Hearts of Courage
by Arus
Summary: It has been a year since the Voltron Force arrived on Arus, defending the beautiful planet against the forces of King Zarkon. Now, as their presence on Arus brings back the life to the citizens, a new threat emerges from the ranks of the Drule Empire.
1. Chapter 1

**Hearts of Courage**  
**Arus**  
**arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com**

_Relative disclaimers apply._

**Author's Note:** This is my second series that Im currently trying to flesh out . It has no relation to the previous series, that contain Birthright and others. This one will follow the characters as I have defined them in my Evaluations ficlet. I will finish up Evaluations soon (Only Pidge and Seven are left to write for), and then this story is to follow. You dont have to read Evaluations in order to follow this story. Just that some of their personal history are revealed in that short.

**Summary:**_It has been a year since the Voltron Force arrived on Arus, defending the beautiful planet against the forces of King Zarkon. Now, as their presence on Arus brings back the life to the citizens, a new threat emerges from the ranks of the Drule Empire. _

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

The young man breathed in deeply as he spied the small ship being guarded by only a few of the Drule guards. He quickly scanned the area, then turning to the small group he was with, signaled to have two of the men to flank from the right as they circled to encounter the guards from the left. 

As they moved, hidden by the crates and boxes that filled the small hangar, his group neared the four guards, and he readied his weapon. He then gave the signal, and soon the small hangar was alit with shots from laser rifles and soon the four guards who had been guarding the ship, were down and quickly dragged away.

"Jeryn, how long?"

The young man turned to the woman who stood near him, as he quickly keyed in a code to the ship's door and it slowly slid open. "Ten minutes," he said. "I have to get the ship started, and then we have to override the hangar's doors."

"Work quickly," she stated.

As Jeryn entered the small ship, he quickly made his way to the cockpit, initiating the start up sequence to get the ship warmed up. Quickly scanning over the control panel before him, he accessed the computers to work on getting the hangar doors to open.

Then it was at that time the alarms started to sound. Jeryn looked up to see that Drule soldiers started to fill the hangar as they came to realize what his group was about to do.

"Jeryn, hurry!" he heard his men yell. "They've found us out."

_Damn Drule technology_ Jeryn thought to himself as he tried to make sense of the strange language being displayed on the view screen before him. As he keyed in another sequence, the hangar door alarms sounded.

"Cara, get the others!" Jeryn yelled from his seat.

He quickly stood to head back to the door when he realized that she was no longer standing outside of the ship. His eyes then widened as he saw a group of Drule Soldiers standing around the bodies of the small group of men he came with, and one was holding Cara to the side as he forced her to her knees.

"Cara!" he yelled.

Two of the Drule Soldiers standing near her looked in his direction as they raised their rifles to him and started to head toward him. Cara turned to him, tears in her eyes as a Drule Soldier held a gun to her head.

"Go!" she yelled.

As the two guards neared, he quickly pressed the button on the door panel and watched as it slide close, locking it before they had a chance to capture him. He quickly made his way to the cockpit to run through the final procedures before he could lift off.

_**You wont get out of here alive, Jeryn**_

The voice caught him by surprise, but as he looked into the view screen before him, he saw the Drule Soldier that had been the one who led the attack against his home planet, so many years ago, standing before his ship, with a garrison of Drule Soldiers gathering behind him.

"Tarris," he said more to himself than in reply.

General Tarris was a notable and ruthless soldier in the ranks of the Drule Empire; working and serving under the 4th Kingdom, ruled by King Akian and his followers. Even though factions of the Empire were straying away in their methodology to join with the Galaxy Alliance, there were still 5 kingdoms out of the 14 Drule Kingdoms that still maintain a distant relationship with the terran based order. The 4th kingdom however, maintained a neutral policy with the Alliance, as long as they do not interfere with the going ons of the Drule Empire, they would not interfere or engage those who belong to the Alliance.

And General Tarris was among the elite soldiers that served faithfully under the rule of King Akian, however, he was not a Drule himself. He was in charge of the most respected and oftened feared group of men, trained personally by him, to become the force that even the other Drule Kingdoms could not stand against. Tarris, a human, in charge of the most feared force in all of the Drule Empire was not only an insult to those who found the idea to be ridiculous, he was also a respected in that sense as well. Anyone who got in the way of the General, never lived to speak about it to anyone. He was a genious in battle, as well as a lethal killer should one every decided to fight him one-on-one.

"Then by death you will have to take me, General." he stated.

_**So be it.**_

He watched as the general commanded the soldiers behind him to take a stance and then open fire on the ship. Jeryn grabbed a hold of the controls before him. The hangar doors behind his ship were already opened and all he needed was a distraction. He spied a few barrles at the far end of the hangar, he quickly engaged the weapons system on the ship and fired upon them.

The barrles exploded, causing the soldiers to scatter as the hangar began to fill with smoke. Jeryn took the opportunity to get the ship responding and soon he was flying the small ship out of the hangar. He looked back into his view screen as the rear view of the hangar came into display, as the castle from which he was escaping from, started to fire upon the small ship he piloted. Closing his eyes tightly, knowing that the men he had come with were now executed, he pulled on the controls before him which put the ship into the fastest speed possible. Hoping that the coordinates he was given and programmed were taking him to someplace; somewhere, he could find friends, and help.

Tarris watched as the small ship disappeared into the nightsky as the castle stood down from firing upon it. A soldier then approached him, as they brough over the young woman they had captured. He stared down at her, slowly taking off the helmet he wore to meet her gaze. Handing his helmet over to the soldier and tying his hair back, he slipped on the eyepatch he usually wore, to cover his scarred right eye, as he came to stand before her.

"Where is he headed to?"

When the woman did not answer, he signaled for a guard to pull one of her arms free and push her to lie prone on the ground before her. Holding her arm out, the guard forced her hand to open as he stepped on her arm to hold it there.

"I do not like to repeat myself," Tarris stated as he kneeled down before her, removing a knife from the belt he wore as he unsheathed it, and placed the tip of the blade to her outstretched hand.

"Somewhere you can't touch him," she said through clenched teeth.

Cara let out a blood curdling scream as he stabbed the knife through her hand, slowly twisting the blade.

"Where is he headed?"

Again, when she did not answer, he removed the blade and stabbed her hand again.

"If you dont answer, I will cut off your fingers, then your hand," he stated. "And dont think the task will be quick. I will slowly tear apart your flesh. I do not believe in quick deaths, my dear. Now, tell me, where is he headed?"

Tears in her eyes, she met his single gaze. "Arus," she said straining as the guard who held her down pulled her to a kneeling position. "He's going to Arus; where he will be protected under the Galaxy Alliance, and you have no control over him."

Tarris took her injured hand into his own, her blood flowing freely from the two stab wounds he gave her. He then pushed his gloved thumb into one of the wounds which caused her to scream in pain. "Do you think that a planet within the Galaxy Alliance will stop me from capturing him?" he asked.

"Your own kingdom's treaty with the Alliance prevent you from doing so," she said as she stared at him. "Defy that policy, and you will have the entire Alliance as well as much the Drule Supremacy bearing down on this kingdom."

Tarris smiled to himself as he dropped her hand from his hold. "One thing you and your people dont realize, Cara, is that Im able to find ways around circumstances that go beyond my control and then return it back to my control," he said. He then looked at her. "What was your planet, Cara? The one we attacked all those years ago?"

"Arcona," she said.

"Ah, yes," he said. "You and Jeryn, the last of your people, wasn't it?"

"No thanks to you."

"Sad really," he said. "I was willing to allow you to live, being that you and Jeryn are the last Arconans alive. But, I have no tolerance for those that disobey me."

With the knife he held, he placed it to her neck and in a quick stroke, slid it cleanly across her pale skin. Her eyes widened in disbelief before her last breath escaped her. Slowly standing, Tarris wiped the blade of the knife before resheating it. He then turned to the soldier who held his helmet and addressed him.

"See that this mess is cleaned up," he ordered. "Take the bodies to the incernerator and dispose of them. I will speak with King Akian on this matter."

"Sir, what about the ship?"

"We will have to chase after it, however, if it is true of its desitnation, I have to discuss this situation with the king," he said. "In the meantime, gather my forces together. Have Commander Elian report to me as soon as my squadron is read to depart."

"Yes, sir," the soldier stated. "Your ship will be ready within the hour."

Tarris nodded as he took his helmet from the soldier then slowly walked away as the guards and soldiers proceeded to clean up the mess within the hangar. He then turned to the open hangar doors staring up at the night sky above. Jeryn was someone they could not lose.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Allura looked over the report in front of her as Coran stood by awaiting to hear her answer. After a few moments of studying it, she smiled as she turned to her Castle Advisor. 

"So, it seems that everything is in order for the celebration?" she asked.

"I've received responses from the three mayors of Cavella, Lucan and Devalis," Coran stated. "We will definitely have a big turnout for the new recruits, and for the knighting."

Allura smiled. "Its been a while since a formal knighting ceremony has been conducted here," she said. "15 right?"

Coran smiled. "The honors have been drawn up and the medals casted," Coran stated. "Now, it all remains on your shoulders."

Allura breathed in deeply. "And the added pressure," she said. "I've studied that speech a hundred times and I still dont remember all of it."

"It takes a bit, since its written in the old language," he said. "However, if you need help, dont feel as if you can't ask for it."

Allura nodded as she penned her name to the report and handed him it to him. "Did you extend our invite to Admiral Benson and his family?"

"Sent them out yesterday," Coran stated. "I'll inform you of his answer when I receive it."

"Excellent," she said with a smile. "Where are the boys?" she asked.

Coran smiled. "Keith and Lance are doing their routine patrol," he said. "Hunk is working on Yellow Lion's maintenance, and I believe Pidge is with the new recruits; getting them acquainted with our castle's security and going ons."

Allura nodded as she slowly stood. "When Lance and Keith return, have them and the new recruits meet me in the meeting room on Level 4," she said. "In the mean time, Im going to finish up the project I've been working on."

Coran nodded. "Should we arrange to meeting for 4?"

She nodded. "You know where to reach me," she said.

With that, she said her farewell to Coran as she left the small study and headed toward the lower level of the castle. It had been an ongoing project of hers, since a more stable life was established within the castle, and she was hoping that she could have the time to finish it.

As she reached the lower level, she turned toward the east side of the castle, walking down two hallways before ending up at a set of glass sliding doors. Beyond, she could see that she had a lot of work ahead of her, but the work she had done so far was something she was proud of.

"Ah, princess!" a sweet voice sung out as she entered the small garden that laid before her.

Of course her work didn't come without help either.

"Alania," Allura smiled as she joined the young girl within the garden, as she tended to a small troft she was building. "I see that you were able to get some troft from Luncan."

The young girl nodded with excitement. "Yes, Gill finally was able to finish the order I made," she said with a smile. "I also took the liberty of clearing away the overgrowth in that section of the garden; so now we have more room to work with."

Allura smiled as she nodded seeing how the small garden was now transforming. She looked above her, to see the open skylight above. It had been a hard task, but a wonder as much as a delight it was to have this small area dedicated to something that she and her mother had once enjoyed doing together when she was a child. It was the only open area of the castle, that at night , would be enclosed within the walls that surrounded it. Only a week earlier, she had Hunk help out with a small artifial brook that took in water from the surround moat and pumped it into the garden, then flushed back out to the moat. The building was easy, the plumbing wasn't.

"Oh, and while I was clearing away the brush, Allura, I happened upon this," Alania stated as she walked up to a nearby table and lifted up a small beautiful periwinkle colored rose.

Allura's smile faltered a bit as she stared at the flower. It had been along time since she had seen this particular flower, and she didn't realize that the plant that must have grown it had survived the attacks upon the castle.

"Alania, where did you find this?"

The girl smiled as she led Allura to small enclosed area that she must have cleared away of weeds and brush to reveal a three foot high bush, flowering with those odd colored roses.

"It took me about an hour, but I had smelt this sweet scent in this area," she said. "When I cleared away some of the brush, I realized that there was a rose bush here. Its a little dishelveled an undernourished, but I think with some new soil and regular attention, we can get this beauty to be its once formerly glory."

Allura slowly nodded as she looked at the bush. It had been along time since she had seen it, a plant that she and her mother had planted together.

"Princess, what is the matter?" Alania asked as she noticed Allura's sudden silence.

"Oh, its nothing," Allura said meeting her gaze. "Its just that, this bush is something my mother and I planted together. It carries a lot of meaning."

Alania smiled. "When I was younger, my mother and I had a huge garden in the back of our home and there was a special tree that she and I planted together," she said with a smile as she walked over to the small bush. Slowly she looked through the budding flowers. "It grew well that first year, but in the second, we found so many dead and brown leaves, we couldn't understand why; we adjusted the fertilizer we used, even the amount of water, but nothing we did could help it; then when I was sitting the garden, watching as the last of the poor tree's leaves fell to the ground, I noticed a small seed pod had fallen as well. The tree was telling me, that it couldn't live but to give its offspring a chance. Ten years later, that tree is still standing in the garden that my mother and I helped to put together."

She then stood as she had picked four flower stems from the bush and slowly removed the thorns from them. Pulling a tie from the apron she wore, she tied the flowers together and handed it to the Princess.

"I learned that day, that we must value each life, no matter how short it can be," she said. "The tree that we have now, is strong and unyielding. It lasted through three attacks by Zarkon's forces and stands tall against anything that it meets. It seems that this bush, is doing just the same."

Allura slowly nodded. "Through it all, it has remained living hoping that someone would find it again, and tend to it," she added. "Thank you, Alania. That was a beautiful story."

"Get those into some water, and they should be blooming by tomorrow," she said. "I will clean up here, Princess. There isn't much we can do today until I get that shipment of soil from Gill."

"Alania, you've done so much already," Allura stated.

The young girl smiled. "It beats doing laundry and mopping up the rooms in the Castle, Princess," she said. "And the other girls find doing this too dirty for their liking."

Allura smiled as she nodded. "I guess it takes a certain person to like gardening," she said. "Dont work too long, Alania. You can have the rest of the evening off. Looks like I'll go ahead and rest before my meeting later today."

Alania smiled. "If there is anything I need, princess, I'll be sure to let you know."

* * *

"_Sector 249 is all clear,_" Lance announced over the radio as he met up with Black Lion just a little south of the Castle of Lions. "_The mayor of Orico does need some help with a levy in the near future. We are going to be hitting the rain season soon, and he wants to be sure the levies are adequate enough._" 

Keith slowly nodded as he met the gaze of Lance within his view-screen. "I'll be sure to let Allura know of their needs," he said. "Let's do a quick run to the east sector and do a wide scan; make sure our sattelites are in working order."

"_Aye, aye,_" Lance replied. "_Its been a while since we did a space run._"

Keith smiled. "Last one to Leo1 will have to do the other's chores for a week."

"_Haha, you're on,_" Lance laughed in reply.

The two lions were found racing toward the east then did a quick shot toward the upper atmosphere. Keith kept watch on his sensors, seeing the Red Lion edge him out a bit as they entered the thin atmosphere above Arus. The blue sky of Arus soon crept away, into a star filled blanketed sky, and he couldn't help but breathe in deeply as he was greeted with the vastness.

"_Hey, you're losing position, Keith_," came Lance's taunt. "_Try to keep up, chief._"

Letting out his breath, Keith pulled on his controls as he turned his ship toward the small sattelite that orbited Arus. It sole purpose was to detect any incoming airpsace traffic or alert them to any potential attacks by Zarkon's forces.

Red Lion was already there by the time Keith approached, and of course Lance was already rubbing it in, while Keith ran over the diagnostics.

"_You do realize I have stable duty this week,_" Lance tried to rub in.

"I dont mind horses, Lance," Keith replied. "Systems seems fine with Leo1."

Lance was silent for a moment. "_Then, we have a problem, chief,_" Lance suddenly replied.

"What is it?"

"_Detecting a small drule ship about 1000 clicks from our position, bearing down fast,_" Lance stated. "_You're not going to like this._"

Keith quickly switch his sensors over to the signal from the small sattelite and saw what Lance was referring to. A small blip on the radar showed a fast moving small spaceship heading toward Arus, but it was the squadron of ships that were following it that had him worried.

"Trajectory?"

"_Arus,_" Lance quickly answered. "_If it keeps course, it will land right on the Castle's doorstep._"

"Drule?"

"_Judging by the ship's shape, yeah,_" he replied. "_Chief, I dont think that ship is capapable of attack. Outrunning something, sure, but not attack._"

"Markings?"

"_4th kingdom_" Lance replied.

"Damn," Keith swore under his breath. "We cant do anything unless it reaches our airspace."

"_What should we do?_"

"Lets radio the Castle," Keith stated. "We'll hang up here until we know what is going on. We can't interfere unless that ship comes into our airspace, or they happen to destroy it."

"_Think its a slave who stole a ship?_"

"We can only assume that it has nothing to do with us, for now," Keith answered.

He could only stare at the screen before him, watching as the small ship finally came into sensor view. It was definitely a Drule ship, however, the squadron behind it, was that of a full fledge attack force. He counted nearly a hundred ships that were actively following the smaller one.

"Damn, we can only wait."

To be Continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Hearts of Courage**  
**Arus**  
**arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com**

_Relative disclaimers apply._

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Pidge was the first to arrive in the control room, quickly seating himself at the console as he responded to the emergency alarms. Quickly punching in a command into the computer before him, he pulled up an image of Black and Red Lions as Leo1 sent the images. 

"Wassup, chief?" Pidge asked as he pushed the glasses he wore up onto his nose. "Something triggered the alarms."

"_Pidge, pick up the sensor readings from Leo1_," Keith said over his comlink as his image appeared along side the sensor image on the view screen before Pidge.

With a nod, Pidge accessed the detailed sensor readings from the small satellite. He studied over the radar settings and nearly gasped when he saw the multiple detection of Drule ships within the vicinity.

"Are these readings true, chief?" Pidge asked.

"_They are the same readings we are receiving_," Keith stated. "_Can you get a more concise report on their trajectory as well as the speed they are traveling?_"

Pidge slowly nodded as he quickly typed into the console keyboard before him then looking to a monitor at his side. He looked at the radar image again, then committed the program he was using to accept any information from the satellite. Soon, a text display appeared in the monitor before him as he breathed in deeply.

"Well, you're definitely not going to like this," he stated. "At current course, the fleet will be making a beeline toward Arus and with a force of that magnitude, they have enough firepower to level three cities in a matter of hours."

"_Any other information you can provide?_"

Pidge slowly nodded as he watched as the computer brought up schematics of the ships involved in the fleet and that of the ship they were chasing. The computer then listed the information on the Drule Kingdom from which they came from, and of course, any personnel file that they had on them.

"Chief, you're going to love this," Pidge stated as he continued to type away at the console. "The small ship is a personal command ship belonging to that of a high General of the Drule 4th Kingdom; King Akian I believe it was. It says here, that its basically a small attack ship, armed with twelve Lazon powered torpedos, and four laser cannons. It can carry a platoon of ten men or women and has two suspended animation units for deep space travel. The ship is considered state of the art under the Drule Technology."

"_What general does it belong to?_"

"Some guy named Tarris," Pidge said as he looked at the screen again. "Not much information concerning him or any verifiable image. Just that he rose through the ranks of the 4th Kingdom's army pretty fast for someone who isn't even a Drule."

"_Not a Drule?_" Lance asked. "_What is he?_"

Pidge shrugged. "Some humanoid, Im guessing," he answered. "However, the fleet of ships following that small ship all have the markings from his battallion." Pidge then went silent for a moment as he continued to read over the reports as they continued to be displayed before him. "Chief, we really do have a problem." he said finally.

"_What is it?_"

"It says here, that this General Tarris is responsible for the attack on twelve outlying planets with in the Azure quadrant; four of which were left completely destroyed," he said. "He is highly regarded through-out all the Drule Kingdoms, and his men are considered to the be elite soldiers, most of them who have trained under him personally."

"_But we do have a treaty with King Akian's kingdom?_" Lance pointed out. "_Do you think that he would go against that treaty just to capture this ship?_"

Pidge shrugged. "The 4th kingdom isn't highly loved by the majority of theDrule Empire because King Akian refuses to take sides," Pidge stated. "Im sure that he wouldn't consider in putting any jeopardy into firing upon or attacking us. Even if it was his ship that was taken."

"_Pidge, see if you can hail the incoming ship to find out if there is anyone at the helm_," Keith ordered. "_Have Hunk and Allura be on standby should we need their help. We will continue to monitor their progress from our position. If the ship does come into Arus' airspace, please ready the Castle's armament should their forces decide to attack. We'll have to notify Garrison of this as well._"

Pidge slowly nodded. "I'm already copying this message over to Admiral Benson as we speak," Pidge stated. "I've radioed for Hunk and Princess Allura. They should be here shortly."

"_Keep us posted on anything else you may find out._"

"Will do."

* * *

Keith watched his view screen closely as he kept an eye on the incoming information from Leo1, Pidge at the Castle of Lions and the sceneve before him. He could already make out the twinkling shapes of a vast amount of ships in the distance, knowing that they were about to encounter the oncoming Drule Force. 

"_800 meters_," Lance radioed. "_Should we call in Hunk and the princess?_"

"No, I want them to be at the Castle, just in case," Keith stated. "See if our hails can reach the ship being chased. Maybe there is someone at the helm that can give us an idea of what is going on."

"_Already on it_," Lance replied. "_No answer._"

Keith breathed in deeply as the force started to near.

"_Chief!_"

Keith sat upright quickly as he switched his view to meet Pidge's image. "What is it?"

"_Im getting a signal, its on a low fequency, but its definitely a signal,_" he said. "_Im not all to familiar with Drule messages, but it sounds as if its definitely an SOS._"

"Pidge, patch it through."

Keith then heard the audio between Pidge and him swithc over to that of a static filled transmission. In between the moments of loud static, he could hear the faint voice of someone speaking in Drule. The words he were able to make out only confirmed Pidge's original assessment. That the small ship being chased was in fact heading toward Arus, to outrun the Drule fleet chasing it.

Grabbing a hold of his controls, he switched his view screen to meet Lance's gaze. "Lance, we're going to probably have to intervene once the ship gets into Arus' airspace," he stated. "The ship is sending out an SOS, and we're going to have to help it once it reaches our territory."

"_Do you think the Drule Force will attack?_"

Keith slowly nodded. "Don't let your guard down," he said. "We're going to have to assume that the ship is the most important thing to them at this moment, and two pilots in Lion shaped ships are definitely not going to stand in their way." He then addressed Pidge on his comlink. "Pidge, have Hunk and Allura meet us within a click of our current position. We're going to attempt a retrieval if the ships makes it our airspace."

"_Roger, Chief,_" Pidge stated. "_They are heading in your direction as we speak. I'll have the Castle's armament on full alert. Do you want the back up fighter ships to be ready to deploy?_"

"Not necessary," Keith ordered. "I dont think they are going risk a full fledge attack against us; but if they do fire upon the ship they are chasing, I want to be ready for any wayward strikes."

"_Aye, aye, Chief,_" Pidge stated.

"_300 meters,_" Lance stated. "_We should already see the damn thing._"

Keith watched his sensors as well as the view screen before him. Then their wayward ship appeared, dark against the vastness of the space before him, they were able to spot the small Drule Ship as it neared Arus' airspace. With Lance on his heels, they flew toward the ship as it finally entered Arus' official airspace.

"_The force is not backing off,_" Lance reported. "_Oh, this is going to be bad._"

"Just be prepared," Keith stated. "Hunk, can you read me?"

"_Aye, Chief, we've got the ship on radar,_" came the yellow lion's pilot's reply. "_I can't raise anyone on our hails._"

"Seems that the only way we can contact that is through the Castle's comlink," Keith stated. "Watch its trajectory, and help the ship with landing if an emergency arises. My Drule isn't proficient enough to understand the original transmission, but I think we are dealing with a drule slave."

"_Keith, I'll have Pidge patch the signal to my lion,_" Allura suddenly stated. "_Hopefully my studies will pay off._"

Keith slowly nodded to himself. "Princess, whatver you can get from the pilot be sure to update Pidge with it," he stated. "And make sure you let him understand that we are not going to harm him and that is now protected."

"_I will try to pass that on,_" Allura stated. "_What about the Drule force?_"

"We'll handle them if they try to do anything against us," Keit stated. "Just see to that ship."

Just as he switched the view screen from Yellow and Blue Lion to the oncoming Drule Force, he was surprised to see that they were only a few hundred meters away, and bearing down on the planet.

"_It doesn't look like the care, chief,_" Lance stated. "_What should we do?_"

"Lance we'll have to slow them down, and make them stop," Keith stated. "Ready to fire a warning shot just short of their advancement."

Lance slowly nodded. "_Readying Lion Claw attack._"

Keith watched as the Drule force continued its advancement, and on his order, he and Lance fired a barrage of missiles and their lion claw attack. The missiles exploded just short of the advancing force, which caused a few of the ships to veer from their course, then double back before the ships came to a stop before them.

"_That got their attention,_" Lance said. "_Now, what do we do?_"

"You know, we issue an ultimatum to retreate, they'll say no, and we will have to deal with whomever is leading this force," Keith said as he breathed in deeply. "You should already know the modus oeprandi of being a evil empire bent on universal destruction."

He heard Lance snicker at the comment. "_Maybe we should just skip the formalities and just go right to blowing these guys out of the sky._"

"Only if it were that simple," Keith stated. He then looked at the force before him, and saw a dark ship, similar to the one that they just helped retrieve slowly move forward ahead of the force. "Looks like we just found the command ship."

"_Oh and look at this, whomever it is, is hailing us,_" Lance stated.

Keith saw the com link light on his console before him blink suddenly. Sitting straight up in his seat, he quickly pressed the button on his console and the image of a masked Drule soldier appeared in his view screen before him.

"_Why have you attacked us?_"

"I am Commander Keith Takashi of the Galaxy Alliance, and you are in Galaxy Alliance protected airspace," Keith simply stated. "As members of the 4th Kingdom of the Drule Empire, you are to stand down and return to where you came from, as outlined in Treaty 463-Ak section 30B. You are now in violation of that treaty for not requesting persmission to enter Planet Arus' airspace."

"_Treaty or not, you will return what has been stolen from us and the thief who comitted that crime,_" the soldier stated.

"Its customary for one to introduce themselves before making a request," Keith replied. "If you have had property stolen from you, you will have to go through the right channels to obtain your property back. A formal request must be made to Princess Allura concerning the stolen ship, but until such time the ship and the pilot in question are under our protective custody."

Keith watched as the soldier remained silent for a moment. "_Ah, so this must be the famed Voltron Force I've heard so much about,_" he replied. "_Dont feel as if your legendary status precedes you, commander, for Im not afraid of who you are or what you can do. If we do not have the return of the ship and the thief in 24 hours, I will forcefully see to their return, and your precious Planet Arus will be but a mere memory._"

"I wouldn't make idle threats..."

"_That is not a threat, Commander,_" he replied. "_Put forth my formal request to your Princess Allura._"

"Again, we do not take threats lightly, Commander..."

"_That is General Tarris, Commander,_" the soldier replied. "_It would be best that you take my request seriously._"

The com link between Keith's lion and the Drule Command ship was broken and he watched as the small ship turned and with the force that followed made a slow retreat. Keith could only stare at the screen before him as he watched the force just simply back off.

"_That was way too weird,_" Lance stated. "_So what do we do?_"

"The request has been made," Keith said. "We'll have to pass it on to Allura, but in the mean time we will need to do some research on our own."

"_On what?_"

"Everything that we need to know about the 4th kingdom, their strategies, exactly what they can and can't do," Keith said. "And all the high ranking officials that we should be aware of."

"_Have a bad feeling?_"-

"I think that this General Tarris will do everything in his power to see that he gets what he wants," Keith stated. He was silent for a moment. "Lance, if you were hellbent on trying to retrieve something you know that you can't get because of something political standing in your way, what would you do?"

"_Take myself out of the politics of the situation,_" Lance replied. "_But our the Alliance's treaty with the 4th Kingdom is almost iron clad. How would he want to get around it?_"

Keith closed his eyes for a moment as he mulled it over. He then opened his eyes after he realized that the only possible way to get around a treaty with the Alliance was to...

"Pidge, get in contact with Galaxy Garrison and have them pull up everything they have on the 4th Kingdom that they have on file," he ordered. "I want to know everything they have. If need be, have them send the information directly to you."

"_Roger that, chief,_" Pidge stated. "_What is it?_"

"I have a really bad feeling that we are not going to see the last of General Tarris and his forces."

"_Chief, what is it?_" Lance asked.

"If General Tarris is a ruthless as they say and claim he is, then Zarkon is going to be acquiring a formidable force," Keith answered.

"_What do you mean?_"

"Lance this was all a ruse," Keith replied. "He knew that he couldn't catch up with the ship, but wanted us to see exactly what we are...what we will be dealing with. He wanted to see if we would respond to a ship requesting help, and we played right into it. Now he knows what we are capable of, and the only way to get around a treaty that prevents him from attacking us is to defect to one of the Drule Kingdoms that are not tied to that treaty."

"_King Zarkon,_" Lance stated. "_That son of a..._"

"Let's get back to the Castle," Keith stated. "I think we are going to be in for a long evening.

* * *

Allura breathed in deeply as the doors to the docking bay opened, as she was followed by several of the Castle Guards. Coran stood to her side, and just as she entered, Keith came running down the hallway. 

"Hunk just brought the ship in," Allura stated as he joined them. "After we escorted the ship to the Castle, all signals from the ship stopped. We couldn't raise anyone after that."

"Any lifeforms?"

"One," Allura said as they walked into the small docking bay. "Signals are steady."

"Then we'll have to assume that the message was actually a recording and the ship was on autopilot," Keith suggested. "Whoever is in here, he or she could be injured."

The guards slowly approached the small ship, Keith stepped up to the side, looking for any machanism to open the side hatch door. As he ran his hand over the side of the door, a small panel opened up. He pressed on the small button there, and slowly the door opened, sliding up. Pulling out his blaster, he slowly looked back toward Allura before stepping into the small ship.

Two guards quickly followed him in, and after a moment, Keith emerged from the ship, holstering his blaster.

"There is a suspended animation unit, within the ship, and there is someone in it," he said. "I suggest that we have Dr. Gorma come down first, to take a look before we attempt to free whomever is in it. He is humanoid, however."

"Humanoid?" Allura asked. "Is it safe inside?"

Keith slowly nodded. "Doesn't look like there is anything to be concerned about."

"I want to see him."

Keith looked to Coran, and with a small nod, he led Allura toward the ship, and then helped her step into it. The dark interior signaled that it was definitely Drule in origin. She quickly looked around and made her way to where her Castle Guards were standing around a small suspended animation unit.

"Careful, I nearly tripped over a loose wire there," Keith warned her.

She slowly nodded as she approached the small unit and peered into it. As she studied the unit, she then made out the features of a young male human that lay within. As she neared it, she felt as if she recognized the man who lay asleep inside, then as realization hit her, she let out a gasp.

"What is it?" Keith asked.

"It can't be," she said as she touched the unit. "I...they...they said that he was dead."

"Do you recognize him?"

Allura quickly met his gaze, tears edging at her eyes. "It can't be him," she said. "If this is who I think it is, then..." she turned back to the small unit. "This is Prince Jeryn of Planet Arcona; a planet that was destroyed by King Akian's forces nearly 10 years ago."

"Prince Jeryn?" Keith asked.

* * *

TBC

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**Hearts of Courage**  
**Arus**  
**arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com**

_Relative disclaimers apply._

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

King Zarkon slowly stood as a small entourage was escorted into his throne room by his guards. He scowled a bit, recognizing the attire they wore as that of soldiers from those under his cousing, King Akian's rule. He slowly seated himself on his throne as the 9 soldiers came to stand at the foot of the dias to his throne, and slowly kneeled.

"Captain Tarris, was it?" King Zarkon asked. "I found it quite odd that an entourage from my cousin's kingdom would seek to have an audience with me."

"I apologize for any business we may have interrupted, sire," the soldier who stood at the head of the entourage stated, then he slowly stood. "But we seek your help on a matter that has gotten out of our control."

"And what kind of matter would it be, to require my assistance?" Zarkon asked.

The soldier slowly removed the helmet he wore, causing King Zarkon to start for a moment, seeing that the man who stood before him, was not Drule, but human. He wore a small eyepatch over his right eye, and sported a trimmed beard, and his dark hair was tied back. Zarkon studied him for a moment, wondering how his cousin would accept a human to take up ranks within his own army. The man smiled for a moment, taking pleasure in the moment as the great King who stood before him, could not make sense of who he was. As he liked it.

"I am human, sire," he said, answering the unvoiced question. "But I've been trained under the forces of King Akian, to serve under him, faithfully."

"If I may, General Tarris, how did you come to serve under my cousin?"

"My history is a clouded one, sire," he stated. "But it was his people who saw in me, the ability to command and be effective in combat. I've rightfully earned my place within his fleet and am one of the most honored soldiers under his command. If you do question my integrity, I do not mind a show of my skills to put at ease any questions you may have."

"We will come to that, if the need arises, General," Zarkon stated. "Now, what is this matter, that you need help with?"

"My squadron were tasked with the retrieval of a ship that was stolen by a slave," Tarris stated.

"But this slave is no ordinary slave?"

"Yes, your highness," he said. "He's the last surving citizen of the Planet Arcona."

"Arcona?" Zarkon asked. "Didnt my cousin destroy that planet?"

Tarris slowly nodded. "However, we were able to capture the last surving heirs of the royal family; Prince Jeryn is the last one of his family to have survived."

Zarkon slowly nodded. "And where has this ship escaped to?"

"A planet that your forces themselves have had a hard time capturing," Tarris stated.

"I see," Zarkon stated. "You do know that my cousin and the Galaxy Alliance have initiated a neutrality against each other."

"And by serving under him, Im obligated to follow and honor that agreement."

"However, Im not governed by such idiotic treaties," King Zarkon stated. "You want my forces to retrieve this Prince Jeryn?"

"It is my duty to do so, sire," Tarris stated. "So, I ask that you will take us under your wing, and allow us to join your forces."

"Serve under me?"

Tarris slowly nodded. "My men and I will resign our comission with King Akian's forces, and will be honored to serve under your control, till such time we apprehend the wayward Prince."

"And what is in it for me?"

Tarris smiled as he kneeled again. "It is known, even in our kingdom that you've had a fair amount of trouble, conquering that tiny planet," Tarris stated. "It was I who led that attack against Planet Arcona, your highness; and I would be happy to help you in your endeavors against the Planet Arus."

He then looked up to the King again, meeting his gaze. "My squadron number at 135 men and women, your highness," he said. "I personally saw to their training and are among the top fighters and soldiers in all of the Drule supremacy. You will be gaining an added force to your already extensive army and those who have loyalty to me and my leadership."

"Defecting to join my forces, General, means that you will absolve of yourself of any devotion to my cousin," King Zarkon stated. "Even if it means, that somehow, the Galaxy Alliance has found a way of convincing him to join their little faction, if he does turn, you will have to devote yourself to my forces, and if the need arises, or the situation merits, you may end up attacking; fighting those same men and women who you once served for. Are you willing to give all of that up?"

"My orders are to retrieve Prince Jeryn at any cost, your highness," Tarris stated as he looked up to meet the gaze of the old king. "If it means my life, or the lives of my men; then so be it."

"I will contact my cousin on this," Zarkon stated. "But, I will consider your proposition, General. Till such time, Ill have rooms arranged for your stay."

"That will be fine, your highness," Tarris stated as he stood. "If I may, could you provide me and my with any information you have collected about the Voltron Force and any defense systems they may have on Arus."

"I will see that Haggar will get that information for you," he said. "You may want to work with my son, Lotor as far as the Voltron Force is concerned."

"Please see that we can arrange a meeting, soon."

King Zarkon slowly nodded and watched as three servants then led the small entourage from the throne room. He then turned to Haggar who had sat silently on her little perch, holding her ever famous, blue cat as it rested in her lap.

"Should I trust them?"

She looked up, to meet his gaze. "He is devoted, and means every word he has spoken, sire," she stated. "He is more than willing to give up all that he has earned, to see that the Prince is captured alive. I dont question his devotion or allegiance."

"However?"

"He is not Drule," she stated simply. "His loyalty to the Drule Empire lies in the fact that he willingly joined their forces; trained under the armies of King Akian, yet being human would have meant that he had to endure even the hatred of those he served under or with."

"Do you think that he will go against us?"

Haggar slowly shook her head. "I cannot give you an answer," she said. "I can only say that he would rather give up his life, before doing harm to those who are loyal to him."

Zarkon slowly nodded. "See if you can contact my cousin to discuss this situation," he said. "Find out what we can about Prince Jeryn and Planet Arcona, and what kind of conflicts this General Jeron has been involved in."

"As you wish."

* * *

Allura watched through the small window as Dr. Gorma looked over the monitors that surrounded the small bed, that homed the young man they found in the ship they intercepted. She then breathed in deeply as he looked up toward her and motioned for her to come into the small room. She slowly nodded as she entered through the door and looked at him.

"It's alright," he stated. "He's just going through the restasis period, and that will last another 6 to 8 hours. He's just resting."

"Is it really him?" Allura asked in almost a whisper.

"He has the scar of the appendix I removed when he was eight," Dr. Gorma stated. "But since all records and health info were destroyed in the attack on his planet, I can only go by what we have on record here; and even that is limited to what survived the attacks on our Castle. By all accounts, Princess, yes, this is Prince Jeryn."

Allura nodded as she approached the side of the bed and she stared down at the young man who laid there. A respirator mask covered his mouth and nose. She smiled to herself seeing that he still retained many of the boyish features she remembered him with, but saw that he had grown to be a handsome young man. Unkempt red hair framed his face, the telltale sign of anyone from Arcona, as all citizens were born with that trait. Now, there was only one.

"I pulled his file for Coran to look over," Dr. Gorma started again. "It will be some time before he regain consiousness, princess. It is getting late; why dont you turn in and if anything changes I'll call you."

"Please do all that you can for him," Allura said.

"Ally, I know how important it is," Dr. Gorma stated. "I will do my best to see that he will be alright."

Allura slowly nodded before she quietly left the infirmary. Crossing her arms, she breathed in deeply as she bypassed her room and walked straight for the Control Room. There she found Coran sitting quietly as he held a cup of coffee in one hand and reading a report from the main view screen before him.

"Coran?"

The older gentlemen turned toward her as she approached, smiling as he placed his cup down on the console before him. 

"Dr. Gorma just turned in his report on our guest," Coran stated. "So its is Prince Jeryn?"

Allura slowly nodded. "At least until he can say otherwise," she said. "Where are the boys?"

Coran slowly nodded. "Keith, Pidge and Hunk are in the hangar bay going over that Drule Ship that he stole," he said. "Lance is in the Castle's library trying to pull as much information as we have on the Drule Empire and their 14 kindgoms."

Allura slowly nodded. "Let Lance know that I will be joining him in the library."

"Is there something you need to find?"

Allura slowly shook her head. "Just that he may need help with some of the books that are written in Drule," she said. "I'll turn in shortly."

"Ill let Lance know you're on your way," he said. "Princess?"

Allura turned to meet his gaze. She watched as he slowly got to his feet and approach her. "If it truly Prince Jeryn, then you know what that means, right?" he asked.

"Coran, this is not the time nor place to discuss this," she said as she turned away from him. "The only thing we can do for him at this moment, is see that he recovers and tell us what has happened to him in the year's he's been missing. Coran, his entire planet; all of his people are gone. He's the last of his own people. And there is nothing we can do to change that."

"Im just concerned for you, princess," he stated. "I know and understand the reality of the situation at hand. Just be there for him."

"I will, Coran," she said. "I will."

* * *

"Hey check this baby out," Hunk exclaimed.

Keith and Pidge looked up from the computer they were both standing behind as Hunk slowly pulled out a small box like object from within the ship and shoved it out of the door.

"Hunk, I dont think its safe to just start pulling things out of that ship," Keith stated as he rounded the computer and looked at the box.

"Chief, this thing was so light, I thought it was just an empty case or something, but check this out," the big guy stated as he kneeled down and started to lift the latches that held the case closed.

Keith watched as he lifted the lid to open the case. A small canvas type material covered whatever was inside, and as he lifted it, they noticed that some type of machine laid inside, with two prominent wheels at each side.

"What is that?" Pidge asked as he peered over the computer he was behind. They were actively downloading any information they could get from the onboard computer available on the ship, and it was taking much of their time as they had to work through several security protocols to do so.

"Dont know," Hunk stated as he proceeded to pull the small machine out of the case and then laid it on the hangar floor before him. "Looks to be like a compact vehicle of some sort."

Keith came to stand by him as they studied the strange looking machine before them. He bent down and looked it over, seeing if there was anything that would resemble a on switch of some sort. He examined it closer and saw what looked to be a handle bar set up, and two piston like objects leading to one of the wheels. It

"Well I'll be," Keith stated. He reached in toward the handle bars and slowly pulled on them. "I haven't seen something like this since I was kid."

The small machine then began to unfold quickly and as he lifted it, the compacted machine extended out to a small two wheeled vehicle resembling that of old earth motorcycles. As he set the machine down on its two wheels, a small stand ejected from the side and then he was able to rest it on the stand.

"Hey, you're right," Hunk said as Keith took a step back. He looked over the two wheeled vehicle for a moment, examining where the engine was and going over the frame until he looked over the entire thing. "This looks likes its a modification of the old Nicara Motobike back on Earth. Yeah, my uncle had one like this. What model was it?"

"The XR4000," Keith said as he stared down at the bike before him. "It was known as the Phantom 4k because the engine was so quiet that you could have been standing by it and not even know it was running. The only thing that gave it away was the high pitched sound it emitted when it came to a stop because of the mechanisms used in its braking systems. It sounded like a 'ghost'."

"Yeah that's the one," Hunk said as he turned to him. "Did you use to have one? I thought they wouldn't let anyone younger than 14 have these because of their power to weight ratio. These things could hit 128 km/h in like 2 seconds. Wait, they discontinued making them almost ten years ago..."

"I didn't have one," Keith said and went silent for a moment. He then looked up and saw that Hunk was staring at him. With a weak smile. "I knew someone who did, and he nearly killed himself when he got it."

"Man, I wanted one when I was a kid," he said. "But the Academy wouldn't allow anyone to own anything that could have potentially killed you. I think that was the reason why they discontinued making them. "

"Hunk, can you see what modifications have been made to this?" Keith asked. "Im sure you can probably pull up some of the old schematics from the archives to see what it was originally built with. If you have trouble finding them, make a request through Benson to get in touch with Dr. Taylor Matsuda"

"Wondering how a terran vehicle landed in the hands of the Drules?" Hunk asked.

"And why it would be on the personal command ship of a feared Drule General," Keith stated as he turned back to Pidge. "How much more do we need till we have the information?"

Pidge shrugged. "Maybe about an hour or two," he said. "Im running the translation program as we its being downloaded so that is prolonging the download a little."

"Once the download is complete, make sure you leave no evidence that we did so," Keith stated. "If we do end up returning the ship to the Drules, I want to make sure they dont realize that we hacked into their systems."

Pidge smiled. "Chief, you know that I can do this with my eyes closed," he said.

Keith smiled as he nodded. "And Hunk," he said as he turned to his large teammate. "No joy-riding; we dont know exactly what was done to this vehicle and I dont want anyone getting themselves hurt."

"I rather take this thing apart than to ride it, Chief," he said. "I'll leave the joy riding to Lance."

"And speaking of our dear Lance..."

"My lips are sealed," Hunk said as he threw glance over to Pidge. "We'll keep this baby a secret until you say its alright."

Keith slowly nodded. "Pidge, if you run into anything strange, page me," Keith said. "Im going to check to see if Garrison sent us those files concerning the peace treaty with King Akian and any other information they've been able to pass onto us."

"Will do," Pidge stated.

* * *

"I didn't realize that we had these many books," Allura stated as she stood at the bottom of the small ladder that Lance was on as he reached for another book and placed it on the pile that she held in her arms.

"Seems like ther are about 5 per kingdom," he said. "Everything from history to current policitics. Its amazing that some of these survived the attacks."

Allura nodded. "The library was one of the first rooms that my father had packed away when the first attack came," she said. "He knew how precious it was to keep what was held here protected."

Lance slowly nodded as he descended the ladder and grabbed about 10 books from the pile she was carrying. The walked over to a small table that was already covered with several other books and several rolled up maps.

"So, since my proficiency in Drule is the equivalent of an 8 year old child learning to read it, I hope you can lend me some of your expertise on the subject," he said. "I was going over these books about the top tiered kingdoms. I can't stand polictics in general, but I gotta admit that some of this have been interesting."

Allura smiled as she nodded. "My father was pretty thorough considering that King Zarkon would be the first Drule we encountered," she said. "With the ever growing number of planets joining the Galaxy Alliance during that time, Im sure the Drule Empire was slowly feeling the effects."

"Well, these books cover the history of how the 4th Kingdom is ranked among the 14," Lance said as he pulled open a book and turned it to a page he had bookmarked. "King Akian is a direct descendant of the original King from the 1st kingdom. King Akian's grandfather, split from the 1st kingdom when his brother took over; establishing the 4th kingdom when he defeated the ... what is this ... Kh-Kha..."

Allura looked at the word he was trying to pronounce and smiled. "Kha-vor-nik," she said. "The g is silent."

"Khavornik," he repeated. "Seems like he came to power just by simply leveling a planet."

Allura nodded. "As with how most of the kingdoms were established," Allura said.

"King Akian was the 2nd son to King Rysian," he continued to read. "The first son, Prince Artis, was found murdered in his stateroom aboard a transport while on a visit to the Cerulean Quadrant."

"Murdered is putting it lightly," Allura stated. "Its been rumored that Akian himself killed his own brother to ascend to the throne, or he hired someone to do it."

"With the Drules, I can no longer be surprised by anything they do," Lance stated. "King Akian is actually a cousin to King Zarkon."

"Now, that is something I didn't know," Allura stated.

"Here look."

Lance put down the book he was holding and reached across the table to grab a small diagram. "I put this together as I skimmed through most of the books here, but this basically shows how each kingdom originated from one main kingdom and branched off," he explained. "King Akian and King Zarkon both had the same grandfather; their fathers, were brothers."

"I wonder how Zarkon felt when he learned that King Akian created a neutrality with the Galaxy Alliance?" Allura commented.

"Well, it seems that they would have been at a disagreement anyway," Lance said. "Their fathers were actually at war with each for some time until the 3rd kingdom stepped in to arbitrate their disputes. Still, it seems that there remains an animosity between the two kingdoms."

Allura nodded. "Lance, I thought you said your Drule was rusty," she said in realization. "You've been able to get this much out of these old books."

Lance smiled. "Hey, I had to find a way of making you stay around in this lonely place," he said. "Besides, I was beginning to have conversations with myself, and I hate doing that."

Allura smiled. "Well, you've done a great job so far," she said. "And these are just the history books. Once Keith receives the files from the Alliance on the current status of the 4th Kingdom, I think we'll definitely have a clearer picture of what we will be up against."

Lance slowly nodded. "So how is our guest?"

Allura met his gaze. "Still going through restasis," she said. "Dr. Gorma thinks it will be a couple of hours before he's fully conscious."

"So, he's a prince huh?"

"Prince Jeryn," Allura said as she turned away from him and started to pile the books on the table neatly. "He and I were old playmates when we were younger; long before we ever heard of King Zarkon or the Drules."

She then felt a warm hand rest on her shoulder and a slight pressure as he pulled her to face him. "Listen, princess, whatever happens, dont feel as if you are obligated to do it," he said. "Especially if Coran or Nanny are behind any pressure that may instill on you."

"Lance, its not like that," she said.

"Princess, dont think Im blind," he said. "Coran and Nanny have been pushing on you since the day you decided to fly Blue Lion, how important it is that you remain safe and shouldn't be putting yourself into danger. How we were there when they tried to marry you off to no less than 2 princes; one of whom turned out to be a robeast. And I know that right now, they're probably going to try and pressuring you into something with this Prince Jeryn, knowing that you have a history together. Remember, its your life, not theirs, and dont feel as if you have to do what they want. Its not for them to decide."

Allura met his gaze one last time before turning away. "I know Lance," she said. "I know."

* * *

tbc

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Hearts of Courage  
Arus  
arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com

Relative disclaimers apply.

* * *

**Chapter 4 **

* * *

--- 13 years ago --- 

Allura breathed in deeply, against the crisp winter morning air. She slowly let out her breath, dazzled by how her own breath created a mist in front of her. She smiled at it then looked up at her mother, who held her hand tightly in her own. Allura then looked up into the sky above her, noticing the dance of little white flakes as they lightly fell and melted on her warm skin. It was already mid winter for Arus, and it was Allura's favorite time of year.

With a slight tug, Allura followed her mother as they walked toward the bridge that fronted their castle. There, she watched as an entourage of men and women made their way across the vast expanding bridge that led to her home. She then watched as her father, greeted the group, and bowed before an older man, and then the man did the same to him.

"Mama?" Allura started to ask, questioning in her eyes as she met her mother's gaze.

"They are the royal family from Planet Arcona, Ally," her mother answered. "They will be staying with us for a while."

Allura slowly nodded, not unfamiliar when her parents had guests; dignitaries, or ambassadors who visited often. However, she never recalled any other royal family visiting before.

She watched as her father escorted the small group, the older man at his side, followed by a woman, around the same age as her own mother. Behind, a young boy followed closely, looking up toward the Castle of Lions, as if he never seen a castle before. As they neared, she then let out a gasp when the boy then looked toward her, and she quickly turned to her mother, to bury her head in the folds of the gown she wore. The Queen laughed quietly to herself as she patted Allura on her back and kneeled down to her.

"That is Prince Jeryn, King Aylan and Queen Tira's son," she whispered. "He will be staying with us for while, until his parents can deal with the situation on their home planet."

"What kind of situation?" Allura asked.

Her mother smiled as she placed her hands on Allura's shoulder. "Not something little girls would care to know," she said. "His parents will be with us for a while, and then return to Arcona. Once they've cleared up their situation, Jeryn will then return home."

"How long will that be?"

"Oh sometimes these things can take a while," her mother stated. She then smiled. "You should be happy; you'll have someone close to your age to play with."

Allura's face soured. "Boys are icky," she whispered.

The queen laughed. "They can be," she said.

"How old is he?"

"I think he's seven," she stated.

"Eww...he's way too old to play with."

"Honey, you're only 5."

"See, too old."

Allura's mother then laughed as she stood. "Well, you'll have to help to make him feel at home," she said. "As a princess of Arus, you are bound to your duty to accommodate our guests."

Allura turned from her mother and looked toward her father as they slowly approached them. She moved in closer to her mother, grabbing ahold of her hand tightly as the family greeted them. She heard her father introduce her mother then introduce her, which only caused her to shy away even more, hiding herself between the folds of her mother's gown. She heard her father chuckle at her reluctancy to meet the royal family. Though Allura paid little attention to the adults, her gaze could only fall onto the young boy who also seemed oblivious to what their parents were speaking about. He had turned his attention to marveling at the Castle before him, and she wondered exactly what kind of home this royal family would live in, if he looked as if he never saw a castle before.

As if he sensed her scrutiny, the young boy turned her, meeting her blue gaze with the deep dark red of his own, his eyes wide open in surprise, slowly thinned as he offered her a smile. Allura moved closer to her mother as she turned away. Red hair, red eyes. Allura was little more intrigued with the young boy since he and his parents shared the same characteristics. Strange, she thought, however, she still felt uncomfortable with having people she didn't know stay in the Castle.

"Princess Allura?"

Allura breathed in deeply as she turned and saw that her mother was standing to the side of the young boy who she had been scrutinizing earlier. Her mother smiled as she pulled Allura forward to greet him.

"Allura, this is Jeryn," her mother began. "He has something to give you."

The boy seemed as uncomfortable with this as much as Allura felt, but her apprehension slowly waned as she noticed that he was carrying a bouquet of blue-violet colored roses.

"Princess, its a pleasure to meet you," he stated, which sounded a little rehearsed. "As a token of my gratitude, I wish to present you with these."

Allura's mother laughed quietly to herself seeing that instead of handing it over to her daughter, his gesture ended up more as a shove than one given out of sincerity.

"It...it's a pleasure to meet you, as well, Prince Jeryn," Allura said as cordially as she could. She then looked down at the bouquet, a little confused as to what she needed to do with them.

"Ally, why dont you two run into the castle and see if Nanny has an extra vase to put these into," Allura's mother said as she stepped forward. "Make sure you put enough water. Prince Jeryn, why dont you go on inside. Im sure that most of this seems a little boring for you."

The boy met her gaze and slowly nodded. Allura breathed in deeply before nodding toward her mother then turning to Jeryn. With a nod to him, she slowly turned and headed back toward the castle as Jeryn followed behind her.

"Those are Azonias," he said as he caught up to her. "They're very rare and hard to grow. I..I hope you like them."

Allura turned to him as they entered the large doors that framed the Castle's entrance. "They are pretty," she said with a slight nod. Turning toward where the adults were gathered, she met her mother's gaze as she smiled toward them. "Um, Jeryn?"

"Yes?"

"We..we do not have to be formal with each other," she said as she turned to him. "I know your parents tried to tell you that you would need to set an example for us, right?"

He smiled. "How did you know?"

"Its the same thing I always here when people come to visit my parents," she said. "Come, Nanny usually has something warm to eat by now, want to see what she has to offer for our lunch?"

He nodded. "Thank you, Allura," he said. "I dont have much friends back on Arcona."

Her eyes widened. "Why is that?"

"Because that I am the prince," he said. "People seem to be afraid of me. The other children.."

Allura nodded. "Its the same for me," she said. "But, Im friends with some of the worker's children here. We can visit with them, if you like."

"I would like that very much." he said. He then reached toward the bouquet she carried, pulling out a single stem of rose before breaking the stem off and handing it to her. "I hope that we can be friends."

Allura smiled as she took the rose from him. "We will always be friends, Jeryn," she said. "Even if you're a boy."

* * *

--- Present --- 

Allura breathed in deeply as she stared at the single rose that rested in the small vase that was on the top of her bureau. The same rose that Jeryn had given her all those years ago. It was Alania's mother, who was the Castle's gardener at the time, who was able to find away of extracting the needed seeds from that intial bouquet all those years ago, and of her trials, finally got one bush to grow, even in Arus' climate.

She reached out toward the now budding rose as its petals had finally opened, and that sweet smell she had loved since a child, filled her senses. It was a welcoming fragrance, and one that brought back many memories of a time before the attacks started.

Now, it was a symbol of the planet that was long destroyed by the Drules; one of the last surviving lifeforms to escape the fate that had befallen Planet Arcona. When news of King Akian's attack reached Arus, it was already at a time that King Zarkon had started taking an interest in Arus, and her father, could not come to the aid of his long time friend. The last report they received, Arcona was now a wasteland, all life had been destroyed, including the murder of the royal family.

But Jeryn had somehow survived. He would have been only ten at the time. How does someone that young survive a ruthless attack and then able to live among the Drules?

And why?

The alarm from the nearby clock woke her out of her reverie as she stared at it. It was now 6 am, according to the what the face displayed, and she knew that by now, Coran would have received all they had from Galaxy Garrison on what they had about the 4th kingdom. She slowly stood, pinning her hair back as she slipped on her boots she usually wore. Looking at the rose again, she promised that she would do everthing in her power to help Jeryn in anyway that she could.

* * *

Tarris looked over the arena before him, the darkness and quiet was vastly different from the home he had known. Doom was a mystery, even in its own hostile environment, he somehow felt comfortable here. Compared to the overpopulated home of Planet Coeus, he would have gladly traded one day of crowded streets and busy streets, for one day here. 

Leaning against the wall he sat against, he pulled out the small disc that he had been given by Haggar, assuming that it was the information he had requested. Placing the disc in the small scanner he carried, he watched as the disc played. It was a collection, it seemed, of files they had interecepted, and battles that were recorded. He read and watched over the countless reports of initiatives against Planet Arus, only to be thwarted by this one defense force. A ragtag team, he thought to himself.

He read over the findings the old witch had tried to exploit. Weakness she made note of, but failed to deliver a victory for the king. He knew that it would take more than Haggar's magic and robeasts to try and defeat them. As with every battle he fought and every occupation he was in charge of, he knew that to weaken your enemy from within. He saw that they had tried their efforts at doing so, but again, putting your faith in someone who was already weak, would only mean failure.

The disc ended with a file on each member of the Voltron Force, probably stolen from a Galaxy Alliance communication signal. He looked over each file, familiarizing himself with each member. He made note that one member was replaced when he was severly injured by Haggar, and the Princess Allura took over in his place. He was impressed that the sole ruler of Planet Arus, would take up arms and put herself into a position that would endanger her life. Though, as detailed as these reports were, he knew that there were probably alot of information missing for the members as he studied them over. Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Sven, and Allura.

But what of their commander. Of course, Haggar would put his information last. Though what he was greeted with, didn't help him. It would seem that even the witch could not get a detailed report on who this young man was who led this team. And he hated to be uninformed, especially of those who were in positions of leadership. He could use whatever information he had to plan his attacks and strategies, and without reports on how this man would react to certain situations, he knew that he would have to obtain that information first hand.

"General?"

Tarris slowly stood as a Doom soldier slowly approached him. Sliding his scanner into the small pouch he wore on his hip, he greeted the soldier.

"General, sir, King Zarkon wishes to discuss any plans you may have developed," the soldier stated. "He is waiting for you in the conference room."

Tarris smiled as she stared at the soldier. "Will you show me the way?"

"This way, General."

* * *

Allura entered the small conference room as she met the gaze of Coran, and quickly seated herself at the head of the table facing the view screen before them. Keith and Pidge were already there, seated to her left and right respectively. Lance and Hunk were the last to arrive as they took their seat opposite each other; Lance laying down three folders and two book on the table before them. 

"We received the information we requested from Galaxy Garrison early this morning," Coran stated as he stepped to the side of the view screen he stood in front of. "I've spent the last few hours, putting them in some sensible order. Lance, I know that you have some information pertaining to the 4th Kingdom so we'll start off with that before we move onto the more current information."

Lance slowly nodded as he handed one of the folders he had carried in to Keith and then one to Coran. "As you all know, there are the 14 Kingdoms of the Drule Empire that we are familiar with," he began as he read from his own folder. "We are of course familiar with King Zarkon, who is the 9th Kingdom within the Drule Supremacy. Hazar, who gained control over the 10th Kingdom after their coup is the other. Of the 14 kingdoms, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th and the 10th have a peace treaty with the Galaxy Alliance. The 9th, of course is still a rogue kingdom of the Drule Empire and the 4th, 6th, 11th, and 12th have neutral treaties with the Alliance. The 13th and 14th kingdoms have no presence in any Galaxy Alliance controlled quadrant so there is no standing treaty with them. However it does seem that they have also disregarded any relation with the other kingdoms as well.

Clearing his throat, Lance took a sip from the glass of water that was set before him. "King Akian headed the neutrality peace treaty with the Alliance and pardon for any crimes he and the the other kingdoms whom also share in this treaty, that they caused or did against aligned and non-aligned planets. The treaty was signed a little over 8 years ago, so that would mean Princess, that his attack on Planet Arcona 10 years ago, was 'forgiven'."

Allura slowly nodded.

"But to make note, it was about 11 years ago, that King Akian's power grew," Lance continued. "Largely impart by the forces that were under his control. It is customary of a Drule Empire, when waging an all out war against another planet, they would send thousands of warships and fighters to deal with the 'problem', however starting with Planet Arcona, his attacks on three other planets, only involved a garrisson of a few hundred. Not only did this remarkable feat take the notice of the rest of the Drule Supremacy, it also brought unneeded attention from the Galaxy Alliance. Which is why the neutrality treaty was initiated. It took 3 years to finally come to an acceptable agreement."

Lance looked up from his report. "The treaty was however met with great criticism, since four planets fell to King Akian, with Arcona suffering the worst of the attacks," he continued. "Three high ranking Alliance offers tendered their resignations after the treaty was signed; and to this day, no one knows the reasons behind their choice to resign."

"And what is the current relationship that King Akian has with the rest of the Drule Empire?" Allura asked.

"As it would seem, neutral," Lance stated. "He hasn't done anything that would suggest a threat against the Alliance or the Drule Empire as well."

Allura slowly nodded. "It seems that the treaty has kept the 4th Kingdom in check, however, because they have been absolved of their crimes against Arcona, this puts an unusual predicament on us," she said. "Since the Alliance believed that all life on Arcona was destroyed, including every last single Arconan, Prince Jeryn could be considered their property."

"Property?" Hunk said. "Them sending that force after him, would prove that they knew he was alive and who he was. That would be evidence of them hiding something from the Alliance."

"You do make a good argument, Hunk," Coran stated as he took a seat the end of the large table. "And it is something that we are taking to the Galaxy Alliance to make that same argument."

Allura nodded. "However, the ship must be returned to the Drule, or whomever comes to claim it, while we present our findings to the Alliance," she said. She then looked toward Pidge. "I -do- hope that you got what you needed from that ship, Pidge."

"Im already cataloging the information that we were able to download," he said with a smile. "Picked up some interesting details and logs that could be beneficial to us."

Allura nodded. "So we come to what is happening currently," she said.

Coran slowly nodded as he cleared his throat. "As you know, the 4th Kingdom is head by King Akian," he started. "According to the findings from Galaxy Garrison which is also noted in the same findings that Lance reported, much of Akian's power grew in the years before the signing of the neutrality treaty."

Coran turned to the view screen behind him as an image of the 4th Kingdom then appeared on it. "As you know, much of the Drule strategy is to inundate an enemy with a force large enough to take out large portions of cities and strategic targest quickly, however, it can use up resources quickly, and the loss of many lives," he said. The image then switched to that of a Drule squadron, bearing the same markings as those that Keith and Lance encountered the day before. "At least, up until a soldier from within their ranks rose to power quickly."

The image then switched to that of a soldier who was garbed in the normal soldier uniform. "General Tarris. No one knows who he is; and in fact no one outside of the Drule Empire knows what he looks like," Coran stated. "Only that he is human, as shown by this image here."

Coran turned as the image on the view screen changed, showing the what seemed to be the gathering of several Doom soldiers upon a dias, in the back of King Akian who seemed to be addressing his people. They were dressed in formal garbs, helmets holding at their side. The picture was blurry, however, it did show that among the sea of blue faces, one soldier stood out prominently.

"This is the only known photo that the Alliance has of all the high ranking soldiers withing Akian's forces," Coran stated. "All of the men there are Generals, each heading their own squadron of fighters and attack cruisers."

He then turned from the view screen. "General Tarris has been attributed to the main attack on Planet Arcona, ten years ago," he said. "It was at that time, he was only a Captain, but entrusted with this task. It would seem because of the success he did have on Arcona, King Akian quickly promoted him to General and put him in charge of overseeing the training of the Drule Soldiers within his forces. When he led the attack against Planet Ormul a year after Arcona, it seemed that is where he built his reputation for being a feared General, even among the Drules themselves. He was responsible for reducing the size of an attack force from a few thousand to just a few hundred. His tactics were unusual, and definitely not one that the Drules had adopted before. It cemented his worth as well."

"If he is human, where did he come from?" Pidge asked.

"No one knows," Coran said. "His name doesn't appear in any records until a year before the attack on Arcona, and that was when he was just a soldier. Everything before that is just a blank."

Allura breathed in deeply. "Human or not, we now have to be prepared for anything," she said. "If Keith's feelings on this is true, he probably has already contacted King Zarkon and is planning to join his forces with his. That would only mean that King Zarkon may take the first initiative to see if General Tarris' fame is worthy of his interest. With Prince Jeryn in our custody, that would be more than enough of a reason to see that he is protected at all costs."

Keith then turned to her. "Why is Prince Jeryn so important to them?" he asked. "If Arcona is no longer in existence, then that would mean there is nothing that Jeryn could to do bring it back. What would be the reason to try and take him back?"

"Because I am the only person left who knows the exact location of a weapon that is more powerful than Voltron."

The five Voltron Force members slowly turned to the door behind them seeing Dr. Gorma had escorted the young prince to the conference room. Coran and Allura stood as Jeryn started toward them.

"Because for the last ten years, I refused to give up that information to them, and for that, I've lost everyone that I've known," he said. "A weapon that King Akian would willingly give to King Zarkon, to use against you."

"Im sorry, Princess, he said that it was important to see you as soon as he awoke," Dr. Gorma stated.

"Its alright, Doctor," Allura stated. "Jeryn, what is this weapon? When was it built?"

Dr. Gorma helped the young man to the nearest chair and helped him to sit in it. "Its a small cannon, a weapon that could be easily adapted to any ship or system, for ease of use," he said. "My father developed the system before King Akian attacked us; a prototype was built, but they never had time to test it."

"And this is why they are after you? To make you reveal its location?"

Jeryn slowly nodded. "They leveled my planet trying to search for it," he said. "Killed everyone that I knew for it."

"Where is it?"

Jeryn met her gaze. "In me."

* * *

tbc

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Hearts of Courage**  
Arus  
arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com

Relative disclaimers apply.

**

* * *

Chapter 5  
**

Allura and Coran followed Jeryn and Dr. Gorma as they made their way back to the infirmary. There, Dr. Gorma had the young prince seat himself on of the beds as Jeryn rolled up the left sleeve on the gown he wore.

"They thought the best way to keep it safe was to put it where no one would look," Jeryn stated as he met Allura's gaze. "Doctor, if you could hand me that scalpel?"

Dr. Gorma turned to the tray near him and picked up the small cutting device. Handing it to Jeryn, he signaled for a nurse to bring in some bandages.

"Jeryn, where exactly did they put it?" Allura asked.

"It wasn't necessarily, they who did it," he said. "I had it hidden away on Coeus, before we considered in implanting the device within me."

"We?" Coran asked as he stepped forward. "Were there other Arconan survivors?"

Jeryn slowly nodded. "Four others that I knew of," he stated. "But more than likely they are dead now."

"Dead?"

"We knew that as General Tarris grew in power, he would want to get that secret from us, so we decided that the only way to get the weapon as far away from him as possible was to escape," he said as he held the scalpel in his right hand. "Akian wanted the weapon so that he could find away of nullifying the treaty he signed with the Galaxy Alliance, in hopes he could get back into the good graces of King Zarkon. He knew that if he were able obtain this weapon, he could offer it to Zarkon as a means to destroy you; your Voltron and the Voltron owned by Galaxy Garrison.

"We knew that it would be somewhat futile to try and escape, but we had no other choice. General Tarris would have quickly found out that I was in possession of the weapon all this time, and would have stopped at nothing to get it. If this weapon can defeat you, Zarkon could rally the other Drule Kingdoms together, who signed the neutrality treaty, and have them join his cause. Then all that the Alliance has worked for; especially with the other Drule Kingdoms, would be in danger. I knew that I couldn't allow it." He then stared at the scalpel he held. "And this is what they were after."

Coran and Allura gasped as Jeryn took the scalpel and sliced his skin around his forearm, near his elbow. Seeing that he didn't express any sort of pain, Dr. Gorma quickly grabbed some nearby towels to catch any bleeding that may have occurred. However, none came.

Putting down the small cutting instrument, Jeryn then slowly twisted his left arm counter-clockwise, which initiated a small clicking sound.

"I lost my arm 2 years ago," he said simply. "As much as the Drule Empire may seem barbaric at times, some of their technology have been impressive."

After he twisted the arm a little more, he slowly pulled the appendage off, and pressing on three spots within the palm of the now detached arm, the skin slowly dissolved away to reveal the skeleton of a robotic arm. Small gears within the arm reacted to some of the stimulus around it, however it was the presense of what seemed to a thick "bone" within the arm that he removed from it.

The "bone" was the length of his forearm, and as he placed it down on the bed beside him, it slowly opened to reveal a hidden compartment. After attaching the arm back to his elbow, and the skin slowly covering the robotic arm, he lifted the small casing and pulled out a slender cylindrical object and held it in front of him.

"This is what they are after," he said.

Allura looked at it, wondering how something so small could be a threat to anyone. She turned to meet Coran's gaze as he stepped forward, clearing his throat.

"Exactly how does this work?" he asked.

"Install this into any weapon system, any at all, you will magnify its power by a thousand," he said as he offered the device to him. "If you want, please, have your scientists check it over. The blueprints and schematics are on a small disc at the bottom of it. Im sure you will see why this could never land in the hands of our enemies."

Coran slowly nodded as he took the small device from Jeryn. "What do the Drules know about this device?" he asked.

"They think that we had an actual weapon built, but failed to realize that the weapon itself was nothing more than this little device, used to augment the power output of any lazon powered weapon system," Jeryn stated. "Tarris had come to realize their mistake when he happened upon an old report filed by one of my father's scientists a year ago. Since then, he had been looking for this device, and knew that we had to hide it where he could never find it."

Coran slowly nodded. "They know its a device of some sort, but not how big it is or what it looks like?"

Jeryn nodded. "If they had known it was something that small, they would have found it long ago," he said. "You must keep this safe. Tarris will do everything in his power to obtain this. I know that by bringing this here to Arus, I am bringing with me his vengeance, but knowing what this could do, I had to take that chance."

"It's alright, Jeryn," Coran stated. "We will report this back to the Galaxy Alliance and let them know that you were a prisoner on Coeus, despite the fact that we thought everyone on Arcona had been killed. We'll let them handle the politics over this, with King Akian."

"Thank you," Jeryn stated.

"Jeryn, we can only offer our sympathies to your situation," Coran stated. "But know that you've always had a home here on Arus, and are welcomed to stay here as long as you wish. If there is anything that you need or want, I will see that they are made available to you. For now, a room is being prepared for you; the Castle is open to you."

Jeryn slowly nodded before turning to Allura. "I can only thank you for all that you have done," he said. "News of Voltron have even reached those of us on Coeus, and it only brought me hope. That I could find support here; the same that I did when I first visited."

"Im just glad that you are alive, Jeryn," Allura stated. "After we received news of Arcona's destruction, we feared the worst."

He slowly nodded. "Thank you, again," he said. "I dont know how I can repay you."

"I think it would be best if Prince Jeryn is allowed to rest," Dr. Gorma stated as he grabbed a nearby digital clipboard. "I will need Jeryn to see me again tomorrow, to .. to go over some test results I'll have tomorrow. Till then, some rest is in order."

"I'll see if we can dig clothes from one of Nanny's stashes," Allura stated. "Im sure we can find you some clothes to wear for now."

"Princess, if you could show Prince Jeryn to the room we have prepared for him, we can then get in contact with Galaxy Garrison," Coran stated. "And we do need to reschedule the ceremony we had planned. In light of the situation at hand, I think it would be best that we postpone it for a week."

Allura nodded. "I agree," she said. "I will see you this afternoon about that."

She then turned to Jeryn. "Your room has been prepared in the West Wing of the Castle," she said.

Jeryn nodded as he got off the bed he was sitting on, pulling down the sleeve of the shirt he wore to cover his arm. "Coran, if its all possible, I would like to meet with your Voltron Force again, as soon as you've been able to go over everything that I've related with them," Jeryn said as he turned to meet the older man's gaze. "Im sure right now, they would be reserved in their opinions about my legitimacy over the situation. I want to make sure they understand my position."

Coran slowly nodded. "I will discuss this with the team as soon as I can, your highness."

Jeryn slowly nodded and smiled weakly. "Right now, however, a good rest sounds very inviting," he said then turned to Allura. "I saw that the Castle has gone under some major changes since I was last here."

Allura smiled in return. "Im sure that the outward appearance may seem new to you, but you'll quickly see how much has remained the same," she said. Turning to Coran, she breathed in deeply. "I also want the new recruits to be at the meeting once we are able to pull them away from their training. I think it would be our best interest to see that we are all informed of what is going on, and how we plan on addressing it."

Coran slowly nodded. "I'll speak with the Admiral, since Im sure he'll be wanting to inform Galaxy Garrison as well," he said.

Allura nodded then turned to Jeryn. "Please, Jeryn, I'll show you to your quarters," she said.

He nodded and with a final thanks and goodbye, he followed Allura out of the infirmary.

**

* * *

**  
Pidge stared down at the small vehicle before him as Hunk tinkered with it. He watched as the larger man grabbed a set of wrenches from the small tool box beside him, before bending down to unloosen several bolts from the engine compartment.

"So, why is it called the Phantom again?" Pidge asked.

Hunk looked up from where he was sitting as he tugged at the engine, and slowly pulled it out. He met Pidge's gaze and with a smile, reached into the frame of the small motorbike and pulled out a small cylindrical object.

"This," he said as he slowly stood and wiped his hands of the oil and grease. "This little thing right here, controlled the entire braking system for this little beast, consdering the speed this thing traveled over land."

Pidge looked at the small object as Hunk held it out toward him. "321.8 km/h?"

Hunk nodded. "So, when these babies had to stop, these little devices would engage, and bring these things to a halt," he explained. "And the sound they made sounded like a ghost of some sort. It was pretty nifty and till this day the engineers for this bike were held in high regard for building something that was completely silent in running. The schematics were later used for some of the more high tech engines used in the smaller fighter ships in the Galaxy Alliance forces."

Pidge nodded as he took the small object from Hunk and looked it over. "Hey, you dont mind if I take a look at this?"

Hunk smiled down at him. "Thinking of something that could help us?"

Pidge shrugged a bit. "Dont know," he said. "But whatever makes it work could be used to help us with our fighters, maybe?"

Hunk nodded. "Once I have the engine taken apart, we can also go through that as well and blueprint it," he said. "I've always wanted to tinker with these babies, but you know the parents wouldn't allow me to get one. Just can't give up this opportunity."

Pidge nodded. He then looked over the structure of the bike standing befor him; studying the instrument panel and its shape. "Hey, these things were built with an onboard computer right?"

"Should be," Hunk said. "But the program would be severly outdated. I dont think we have anything that could interact with it."

Pidge quickly turned and headed for the small worktable on the side of the work bay they were in, and grabbed a digital clipboard. Running back, he grabbed a set of cables from the table he was working at.

"Where would it be located?" Pidge asked.

Shrugging, Hunk brought Pidge around the small bike and opened up the front quarter panel and pulled out a small box. Opening it up, Pidge smiled when he saw that the connections only required a simple cable.

"Its a good thing I was researching some of the older programs when I decided that we updated the castles computers systems," Pidge stated. "Ran into some older programs that were stored in Galaxy Garrison's mainframe. I knew we would have a reason to use them."

Quickly attaching one end of the cables he held in his hand to the small box, he then attached the other end to the digital clipboard he held and accessed the clipboard main operating system to bring up a diagnostic program. Hunk watched as a list of a few thousand named files scrolled quickly through the clipboard screen, then finally come to rest on a filename.

"Now, let's see if this is a diagnostic program," Pidge stated.

Hunk stood and peered over the boy's shoulder as he opened up the small program on the clipboard. Once activated, the program opened up a smaller window, and a series of lines of code began to scroll before stopping at a small computer prompt. The cursor blinked for a bit, but a sudden reaction from the vehicle before them caught their attention.

"Hey, it seems you're on to something," Hunk stated.

They both leaned over the vehicle and saw that the diagnostic program had turned on the main control system for the vehicle, lighting up the front display panel. Hunk rounded the vehicle, pressing two buttons on the display. On the bright orange display, the console displayed that it was running through a start-up sequence.

"Hmmm," Hunk said to himself once the display stated that the engine was disconnected, and further diagnostics would continue once it could detect the engine.

"Well, at least we know that little program works," Hunk stated. "I wonder what kind of programs this thing has."

Pidge slowly nodded as he stood, watching as the diagnostic message was also displayed on the clipboard. After a few moments, since the vehicle couldn't register the engine, the program then switched to a simple GUI, displaying the system information as well as basic statistics of the vehicle before them, with a 3D image of the vehicle displayed in the corner.

"Hey, come look at this."

Hunk returned to where Pidge was standing as he used the stylus from the clipboard and clicked on the section that was labled registration information.

"Well I'll be damned," Hunk said. "They implemented a security marker when they built these things."

"Security marker?" Pidge asked.

"That means, that whomever owned these vehicles, the vehicle used a part of their DNA code to register it as belonging to them," Hunk said. "It was considered highly advanced for such useage, since the common thing was to use Fingerprint or retina analysis. However, it wasn't as developed as they had liked it to be, meaning that those who share the same pattern in the DNA, could have access to the bike as well. So if my brother had bought one of these, there is a good chance that me, my sister, and both my parents could have access to it."

"So that means, no one will be able to use this bike, even if we took it apart?"

"Not necessarily," Hunk said. "See who this bike was registered to. Im sure there should be information on that within its system."

Pidge slowly nodded as he clicked through several of the submenus, then was able to access the small security program that contained the DNA profile information.

"Damn, no other information stored," Pidge said. "I only have the DNA profile."

"Then we should be able to match that profile to any records that Galaxy Garrison may have on file."

"But what if it belonged to a citizen?" Pidge asked.

"Well, this bike wouldn't end up on a Drule ship because it was soley produced on Earth," Hunk said. "The only way it could have left Earth, was to be on a Galaxy Alliance ship."

"Meaning, it could have belonged to a Galaxy Alliance officer?"

Hunk nodded. "Are you able to access the information from here?"

"Shouldn't be too hard," Pidge said. "It will take some time however."

"I guess we'll let it run while we take this thing apart," Hunk said.

Pidge nodded as he quickly accessed the programs that would allow him to search the Alliance's database to compare the DNA information he received from the vehicle. As he placed the clipboard down, and rounded the bike to where Hunk was already ratcheting out the bolts, a loud beep eminated from his digital clipboard which caused both men to look at it.

"It couldn't have found it that fast," Pidge said as he grabbed the clipboard again.

Looking it over, he clicked through the menus and Hunk watched as Pidge's eyes widened.

"What is it?"

"Come take a look at this," Pidge stated. "It found two matches; one an exact and the other a close match."

Hunk stood and as he joined Pidge, he nearly had the same reaction. The program had found two matching profiles and was quickly displaying their information before them.

"It can't be."

**

* * *

**  
Allura smiled to herself as she placed a vase of flowers, the flowers that she had come to cherish over the years, one of the only reminant of Arcona on the small dresser in the room set up for Jeryn. She looked around the room, noticing how sparse and vacant it felt.

"I wonder if your Nanny could fix up something a little more interesting than these garbs."

Allura looked up as Jeryn exited from the small bathroom, and smiled to herself. The makeshift outfit, pieced together from an old guard uniform did look a little big on him. She quietly laughed to herself as he approached her, meeting his amused gaze.

"Well, once she gets you sized, Im sure she will come up with something a bit more formal and I'll stress for some casual clothes as well," she said. "Otherwise, as long as it fits."

"If I were 4 kilos heavier and 20 cm taller," he said with a smile.

Allura met his dark red gaze, remembering for the first time how those eyes sometimes spooked her. She managed a small smile, before breathing in deeply. "Jeryn, if I haven't said it yet, it is good to see you again," she said.

His smile faded a bit before reappearing. "Its good to see you again too."

She nodded slowly.

"What is it?" he asked noticing that her mood had darkened a bit.

She hesitated for a moment. "Things...things are different now, Jeryn," she said. "And I dont want you to feel uncomfortable with anything that goes on here. Again, to echo Coran's offer you are welcomed to stay here, as long as you want."

"Allura, Im not expecting anything of you," he said as he took her hand into his own and pulled her to him. "I know you can't understand what I've been through, nor can I ever understand what you've been through. And I dont think its right of me to expect you to do so. Yes, things have changed. I've changed. I know that you have as well. Reports of your Voltron Force even reached us on Coeus, I knew that you were in good hands. Your father was a smart man, and I respected all that he had when I was a child, and what he built to help protect this planet, was an inspiration to us all. It was too late for Arcona, but I knew that Arus would rebuild. Because, like her father, I knew that you, Allura, would be strong enough to see through it."

She slowly nodded. He then wrapped his arms around her, taking her into a hug. "Know that you have another ally in your fight against whomever decides to hurt Arus and its people," he said to her. "I will devote my life, if need be, to help you in your mission to keep Arus safe from your enemies. I promise that I will be there for you, for your people, always."

"I know you will," Allura whispered. She then swallowed hard. "Its not my enemies that Im worried about."

She felt him breathe in deeply. "Of course there is that," he said as he then let go of her, but held her close to him.

Allura nodded. "Im afraid that Coran and Nanny will do everything possible to live up to the promise made by your father, all those years ago," she said. "Jeryn, you do know that it will never be like that between us."

He smiled. "I would never force you to honor as something dumb as that, Allura," he said. "We were only kids at the time."

She slowly nodded. "If you feel as if you're pressured..."

He let out a quiet laugh before pulling her into a hug again. "I can handle Coran, but Im going to need help with Nanny," he said. He then closed his eyes. "If it means anything to you Allura, you were always like a sister to me, and you were the only true friend I had when I was here. I can never forget that."

Allura pulled away slightly from him with a smile. "I will always be there for you."

"As I will for you." He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on her forehead. He pulled away and with a smile he took her hands into his. "Were you able to arrange a meeting with your friends?"

Allura nodded. "Pidge and Hunk are finishing up their little project, and will join us as soon as they are done," she said. "The others will meet us in the conference room we were in at 2 today."

He nodded. "I just hope they dont think me to be some kind of Drule spy, or I'm working on their behalf," he said.

"If you were, you had ample opportunity since you arrived here to do something," she said. "But, yes, you will have to win over their trust. We've had many instances of where Zarkon has sent someone to us, who acted on his behalf. Know, however, that you have my trust and Coran's as well."

"Thank you," he said. Then with a smile. "Now, about that tour?"

She smiled. "With pleasure."

Tarris slowly made his way through the dark hallways of the Doom castle, his small entourage following behind him as they headed toward the main throne room where they had been summoned. As the large doors opened, King Zarkon immediately stood, making his way down the dias as he motioned for three of his doom guards to exit the room. Tarris followed everyones movement, as they moved about the room, then his gaze came to rest on the one man he had not met prior.

"That is Prince Lotor, general," Ilandra, Tarris' second in command quietly mentioned as she moved closer to his side.

Tarris slowly nodded as he motioned his understanding, and she fell back into position behind him. As he slowly approahced, King Zarkon quickly turned to him with a broad smile.

"General, I spoke with my cousin and he has filled me in on everything that is needed to be known," Zarkon stated as Tarris met his gaze. "Know that he has agreed to allow you and your men to defect and join my kingdom's forces. But, that you will not be given any special treatment either. You, like many of my underlings, must prove your worth as a soldier under this kingdom, and your loyalty."

Tarris nodded slowly. "It is with great honor that you have accepted our request to join your forces, your highness," he stated with a slight bow. "My men and I will serve you as we have faithfully under your cousin."

Zarkon nodded. "My cousin was very forthcoming with the praise he held for you, General," he said. "And that I would not be disappointed with your work."

"I strive to do the best as I can, your highness," Tarris said simply. "And to prove our loyalty and worth, we do request that we send a small batallion to retrieve what was stolen from us."

Zarkon nodded. "Yes," he said. He then turned to his son. "I will allow you to retrieve the ship that Prince Jeryn had stolen. Im sure its of great importance to you as well as your force. For now, though, I want you to work with my son, Prince Lotor; he can help you get acquainted on the inner workings of defense systems that Planet Arus has, as well as any information you need on the Voltron Force. Im sure there is much to be discussed on that topic."

"As I do have many questions," Tarris stated as he turned toward the young prince, and with a bow he stated, "Im sure that we could learn from each other, Prince Lotor."

Lotor eyed the man who stood before him, wondering how his father put faith and trust into him. However, he knew that King Akian was someone who did not toy around when it came to his forces, and who was in command. Breathing in deeply he turned toward the General and stepped down from the dias.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, General Tarris," Lotor stated with a slight bow. "Its not often that a person of your stature, visits our home. I do hope that we can work together on any future endeavors."

Tarris slowly nodded and bowed slightly as he met the Prince's gaze. He did not falter once, making sure he looked the prince directly in the eye. He then smiled as he turned to his small entourage. "In the meantime, I would like you to meet my trusted officers, who serve under my command." Turning to them, the officers stood at attention. "This is Commander Ilandra Sephir, 2nd under my command. She's as deadly as she is beautiful. Specialties are infiltration and assasinations. And my personal bodyguard."

The young woman stepped forward and bowed slightly.

"And these are Lieutenant's Sefner and Daris Radris," Tarris stated. "Brothers, but they are the best in weapon and vehicle engineering that Coeus has to offer.

"And this is Lieutenant Lanys Thyar," Tarris continued. "What he doesn't say much to most, he makes up in sheer brute strength. All of these men are invaluable to me, and they only take orders from me. If you wish to have them do what you want, the orders must go through me first."

"Understandable, General, but what you offer in the abilities of your men, you must not forget that even the best of your men can be simply outwitted by the Voltron Force."

Tarris turned as a woman dressed in dark brown robes emerged from the shadows of the throne room. She slowly made her way toward where Prince Lotor was standing, bringing her long crooked wooden staff before her as she seemed to rest her weight on it. Tarris could only deduce that this was the famous Witch Haggar, that served under King Zarkon faithfully, but her only accomplishment had been to critically injure a member of the Voltron Force, but unable to defeat the small team.

"General, I want you to meet my personal seer, Haggar," Zarkon stated. "I wish for you to work with her as much as possible, should you need help on the retrieval of your property."

Tarris slowly nodded. Needing the help of the witch was something he didn't even consider. But, he felt that he must endure her for the moment, just so that he could firmly prove his worth to Zarkon. "Yes, Im sure there is room within my plans to accomodate your help, Haggar," he simply stated. "At this moment in time, I do wish to speak with Lotor on his experiences with this Voltron Force, so that I can have a better understanding of their methods, defenses and tactics."

"So be it," Zarkon stated.

With a bow toward King Zarkon, Tarris slowly approached Prince Lotor and bowed before him. "If you're not busy at this moment, your highness, I would like to speak with you over your dealings with this Voltron Force."

Lotor nodded. "Yes, that would be fine," the prince stated. "I have a private study that we can use. If you dont mind, that we speak alone."

Tarris nodded as he then turned to his small following. With a silent signal, Ilandra nodded then followed the rest of their men as they filed out of the throne room. With no other words, Tarris followed Prince Lotor through a side entrance to exit the throne room.

Haggar stared after the young prince and the general as they left the room.

"You dont like him do you, Haggar?"

Haggar slowly turned to Zarkon as she made her way up the dias to where he was sitting comfortably in his large throne.

"There is much to respect him for, your highness," she stated. "You are correct in placing your trust in him, and Im sure that he will serve you faithfully."

"Though you don't trust him?"

Haggar slowly lowered her cloaked head, taking a seat on the small bench she normally took when she presided over the court with her King. "Trust is not the word I would describe my...aprehension of what he is."

"Because he is human?"

"Because he has no past."

Zarkon turned to her with questioning in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Being in his presence, I can detect and feel all that he has accomplished, within the last decade while under serving under your cousin; however, I feel nothing of him prior to that. Nothing I can even remotely detect of a life before his joining your cousin's army."

Zarkon nodded. "Even when I questioned my cousin, he had very little to say on whom Tarris is, only that I could trust him implicitly," he said. "Should I be concerned about his mysterious past?"

Haggar breathed in deeply. "I feel that it may become an issue soon," she stated. "One that could be used against him.

"However," she continued. "I will monitor anything that goes on, and will not interfere in any plans he may have on dealing with Voltron or Planet Arus. If he requires my aid, I will supply him with what he needs. But if something does go wrong, I will see to it that none of it will come to harm you or Prince Lotor, and deal with him accordingly."

Zarkon closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply. "See what you can find on this Tarris, Haggar," he said. "If his past has you concerned, I want to know as much about him as possible."

Haggar nodded. "As you wish."

**

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**

TBc

**

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**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hearts of Courage**  
Arus arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com

Relative disclaimers apply.

* * *

Chapter 6

* * *

For Dylan Fox, this was the assignment he had been wanting for since he graduated from the Academy only three months earlier. Since joining Garison academy when he was only 10, he worked hard at doing his best in the classes he took, and remembering that all that he had to do was overshadowed by many of the men who now served on both Voltron Teams. They had set a precedence of the type of men and women who'd be granted to pilot the great machines devoted to protection of several of the Galaxy Alliance planets. Then again, for Dylan, it wasn't only trying to be as good as the current pilots of the Voltron Lion Force, but to end up being better than them.

He was quietly standing by the far window, leaning against the cool glass in the conference room that his new team were asked to meet in. He breathed in deeply as he watched as the rest of his new team members occupied two chairs and the two others were competing in a arm wrestling match. He couldn't help but think to himself that they were and odd bunch. He only knew one of the members personally, since she was in many of his classes back at the academy. Madison Hale.

His gaze turned to her as she sat quietly in her seat; wearing the ever familiar cadet uniform, she was poised and very much by the book on the surface. He only smiled to himself remembering that even though the woman followed rules when it came to appearance, that was pretty much where protocol ended and the ever fiestiness of that red headed woman would shine through. She could definitely dole out the insults and hold her own in a bar room brawl; which he had the pleasure of witnessing first hand on their last night on Earth. She had managed to take down 4 burly men, and three drunkards before he was able to drag her out of the small tavern so she could cool off. He didn't want to explain it to Benson the next day why one of his new team members ended up in the local jail because she managed to hurt a couple of men.

As if she knew he was staring at her, she had turned in his direction and smiled. Dylan rolled his eyes as he his gaze then fell onto the one member he didn't really know. More than was that the boy was nearly 5 years younger than the others on his team. Reiji Oura. He looked nervous as he sat at the opposite side of the table, playing with some odd toy in his hand. At least it kept him busy. Dylan only knew of him from what Benson gave him in his personal file. A gifted teenager from Japan on Earth. IQ that was beyond measuring, but grew up as a recluse. It wasn't until he was admitted into the Academy that he was able to develop some social skills. Other than knowing that the kid was extremely smart, he barely knew what Reiji could do. Hopefully, he thought, there would be enough time for all of them to get to know each other.

Then he looked at the two remaining members, Jian Myers and Eysia Bauer. They were already in their fifth round of arm wrestling and Jian was seemingly losing to Eysia this time. He knew of the two, as they were considered the academy's hugest practical jokesters and trouble makers. Where you found one, you definitely would find the other not far behind. Dylan always wondered if they were brothers seperated or something, but knew that was not a possibility. Jian was from Pollux and Eysia from Arus. Both attended the Academy on Earth, and both were transferred to the academy on Rilus when they, as they claimed, accidentally blew up Admiral Cleighton's Garrison fighter. Dylan would had figured such an action would have autmatically suspended the two, but Garison knew they couldn't do such a thing when they were responsible for fast tracking the build of an entirely new engine design for the Alliance's new fighters.

"Jian and Eysia, quit it," Dylan finally stated as he moved from the window and finally took a seat near Madison. "We are here to be briefed on our current assignments, and here you two are acting like clowns."

Eysia smiled to Dylan as he looked up at him. "Ah Dylan, we've been here for nearly and hour, and no one has come to meet us."

"42 minutes," Reiji stated. "We've only been here for 42 minutes."

Dylan looked across the table to Reiji as he went back to the small toy he was playing with. "Thank you, Reiji," he said. "However, we are still in the dark as to why we are here."

"For that I apologize, Commander Fox."

Dylan quickly looked up to watch as Princess Allura and Admiral Benson entered the small conference room. The five team members were quick to stand from their seats and saluted the two as they entered.

"At ease," Benson stated. "You're not officially on duty as of yet. As soon as we brief you on our current situation, you will get your duties and training schedules. However, a new situation has come to light and it will also affect you."

Dylan looked to the rest of his team members and slowly retook his seat. Princess Allura smiled at his reaction and then turned to Benson.

"Its alright Commander Fox," she said as she grabbed a folder from the Admiral's hands. "We are not as formal here as it is back at the academy. Here, everyone is treated equally, and I expect the same from all of you. However, you are bound to your duties to this Castle and of course as candidates to being the backup team for the Voltron Force. So, for now, when you are not on duty, you can address me as Princess. Just for your sake, use that title only when Nanny or Coran is around. You may calle me Allura any other time. And I will do the same for you, Dylan."

Dylan nodded slowly. "Thank you for that, Princess," he stated. "However, I will ask my team refer to everyone by their title, until we are comforatble with our surroundings and duties here. Im sure you can understand our position on that?"

Allura nodded. "I understand," she stated. "Now, we will be expecting the original Team to join us shortly, but I wanted to address all of you first, before we get this meeting started."

"Princess, does this have to do with that ship that was brought in yesterday?" Madison asked.

Allura nodded. "Yes," she stated. "Im sure that you've probably heard what happened, so this is just a formal update. The ship that we intercepted was Drule in origin, specifically from Planet Coeus; King Akian's planet. The ship belongs to one of the Generals, stolen by a slave who escaped their imprisonment.

"The slave in question is Prince Jeryn of Planet Arcona, a planet that we knew to have been destroyed nearly 10 years ago," Allura continued. "We were led to believe by King Akian, that his attack on Acrona all those years ago, had virtually killed everyone on that planet. With Jeryn's sudden appearance, we now will let the Galaxy Alliance ask why their initial claim was false. And that if they knew they had Prince Jeryn in custody, why they did not divulge that prior to their signing of the neutrality treaty. But, that is for the politicians to take care of. Our involvement, is to return the stolen ship to this General, who had followed Jeryn to Arus, and send him on his merry way."

"Princess, if they were hiding Jeryn all this time, do you think that they would have just easily let him go?" Jian asked. "With the treaty in effect, Jeryn is now protected and they cant do anything at all."

"No, it would provide the perfect opportunity for this General to join a faction of the Drule Empire who is not under that treaty agreement," Reiji stated as he looked toward everyone in the room. "If the neutrality treaty would prevent this general from taking his ship; or in fact retrieving Prince Jeryn, then it would be in his best interest to seek out the one person who would grant him a way to do that. That means defecting from King Akian's rule and joining up with King Zarkon."

Allura nodded. "Yes, Lieutenant Oura," Allura stated. "That is what we have come to believe as well."

Reiji slowly nodded. "Which General did this so called ship belong to?"

"General Tarris," Admiral Benson answered.

Allura watched as the young boy nodded slowly then went silent.

"Lieutenant, is there anything you want to share with us?" Benson asked.

"No, sir," the boy stated. "Just iquiring for my own self interest."

Allura nodded. "We will be contacting this General Tarris in the next couple of hours," Allura stated. "To return his ship to him. We are going to do this by the book as outlined by the Galaxy Alliance protocols concerning the return of stolen items."

The door to the conference room then opened and Benson turned as Keith, Lance and Prince Jeryn entered.

"Hunk and Pidge are finishing up their diagnosis in the docking bay below," Lance stated as he joined Allura at the head of the table. "They will be here shortly once they've covered up their snooping. Im sure the General would be a bit unhappy if he found the ship to be disturbed in anyway."

"Good work," Allura said. "Any word from Galaxy Garrison on the return of the ship?"

Keith slowly shook his head. "They want to stay out of it as much as possible," Keith stated as he took a seat next to Lance. "And if the Drules want to press that Jeryn is their property, they've given us permission to act against any agression they may show. They will handle any political aftermath however."

"Great, use us as the guinea pigs," Lance commented.

"Well, Im here to advise you through all of this," Benson stated with a smile. "As this is a unique situation."

Keith slowly nodded. "Commander Fox, your team will be ready in the Arusian fighters as backup while we meet with this General Tarris to return his ship," he ordered. "The trade will happen between Princess Allura, with Lance and Hunk as backup at a neutral spot we've chosen about 200 clicks from here. Pidge will monitor the airspace for any ships that should not be here, and if he does detect anything, you will take your crew and maintain a perimeter around the Castle. At no time you are to break that perimeter unless a direct order from the princess or me, is issued."

"Understood," Dylan stated with a nod.

"We only know that General Tarris is one of King Akian's most trusted and smartest leaders," Keith added. "We must be prepared for anything that he may have planned. He's had a day to stew over this predicament, and we can only assume that he knows we are returning his ship, and that we've had our chance to go over every detail, including any information found on the onboard computers. Im sure he will do everything he can to prevent us from using any information we have gained against him and his forces."

"Do we now have access to that information, Captain?" Reiji asked.

Keith met the young man's gaze. "For now, its still being processed by Pidge and Hunk," he said. "Im sure by days' end we will be able to review what they have been able to download from the ship's computer."

"If I may, Captain, could I also be a party to analyzing the information?" Reiji asked.

"If Pidge allows it, then I have no complaints," Keith stated. "That is it will be after we've rid ourselves of that ship first."

A sudden beep from the console screen in the middle of the table interupted their meeting. Lance was quick answer the incoming message and smiled as Hunk appeared on the small screen before them.

"Chief, sorry to interupt, but Pidge and I ran into something that you may be interested in," Hunks hurried message stated. "Would you mind coming down to Bay 4 once you are done?"

Keith slowly nodded. "I'll be there in five," he stated. Then as the screen before him blanked, he met hte gazes of the new team before him. "You have your orders. Contact with General Tarris will be at 14:40 Arus Standard. You have two hours to get your affairs in order, and familiarize yourself with the Arusian Fighters."

"Yes, sir," Dylan said along with the rest of his team.

"Till then, you are dismissed," Keith said. "Use this time wisely."

* * *

Pidge stared down at the strange bike before him, his arms crossed as he watched Hunk put the machine back together.

"Hunk, what if it did belong to him?" the young man asked.

Hunk turned and met the young man's gaze. "Then we have to be sure," he stated.

The door to the bay they were working in slid open and they both turned to watch as Keith entered. "What did you guys find?"

Hunk traded a look with Pidge before standing, wiping his hands on a towel.

"We want you to give this a try," Hunk stated, as he draped the towel over his shoulder. "We were able to access the onboard computer and I've mapped out the schematics. Now, we just need a test run."

Keith approached Hunk as he looked down at the bike. "What makes you think I'd be able to handle this?" Keith asked. "Remember, I know how finicky these things can be."

"We just want to see if this thing acts the way its supposed to," Hunk stated. "I ran across some modifcations but, I dont know what they were for."

Keith met his gaze then looking at the look that he wore, he deduced that something was up. "What is it?" he asked.

Hunk let out a sigh. "Please chief, just try it out," he said. "Me and Pidge want to test out a theory. We were just meddling with the onboard computer, and I think we came across something that could help us."

Keith looked at the both of them with a questioning look, but decided that if the two had found something interesting, to warrant him to see what they were up to, he would do as they wanted. He walked over to the small bike and looked it over before swinging his right leg over it and stradling it. It had been nearly 12 years since he saw one in person; just as long since he actually sat on one.

Hunk came around and stood to his left side as they stared down at the instrument panel before them. "Now, the start up sequence is actually quite easy," he stated. "You just need to place your hand here."

The large man pointed to a small smooth pad just above the display. Keith nodded and placed his hand, flat against it. He then quickly pulled it away when he felt a small scratch on his palm. Looking at where he felt the sting, he saw a small cut form, then turned to him.

"Sorry about that, should have warned you," Hunk said with a smile. Before he could continue however, the bike's main display lit up, signaling that it was going through its start up. And soon, the engine within the machine came alive. "Ah, so it does work that way."

Keith looked at the large man before returning his gaze to the bike he was currently sitting on. Seeing the looks on both Hunk and Pidge, he wondered exactly what they knew that they weren't telling him.

"So, what theory did you guys have?" Keith asked.

And before Hunk and Pidge could answer, a small message displayed quickly on the screen before him. One that caused him to lean back on the seat he was on. He looked up at Hunk with surprise and the large man could only nod with a sigh.

"We couldn't get it started up," he stated. "And then Pidge ran across that DNA security program that was installed, we knew that we had to find out who it belonged to Luckily, the profile was saved to the computer onboard. There's no way around it, so we ran a search based on the string stored in the computer. Imagine our surprise when it found two matching profiles."

Keith turned to Pidge as the young man approached them. He then looked down at the small screen before him, reading the short message over and over again.

-- Welcome, Keitaro Takashi --

"As it stands, chief, you're the only one that can operate this machine," Hunk said. "That is, you and your brother." Hunk then breathed in deeply. "Listen, we all know what happened all those years ago, but we didn't want to get your hopes up. This by no means that your brother..."

"Hunk, listen, if anyone asks you what you have discovered here today, dont tell them," Keith stated as he quickly got off the bike. The bike then reacted, shutting down as he did. "Go ahead and write up your reports however, on your discovery. Submit them to me after our meeting with that Drule General. Make sure the ship is back to 'normal'. We, however, are keeping the bike for now. I'll submit your reports to Benson to see what he has to say."

* * *

Illandra slowly made her way down the dark halls of Castle Doom, her attention focused on reaching the meeting room, to which Tarris and the Prince Lotor would meet to discuss their plans for dealing with the troubles that the Voltron Force and Planet Arus was creating.

However, she slowed her pace, when she heard the quiet thumping of a wooden staff against the cold metal floors of the castle, as she made her way down the hall she was traveling. She then came to a stop when she made out the dark form of King Zarkon's witch Haggar, placing her hand on her hip as she stared down at the old woman.

"You are Tarris' second in command, are you not?" the old witch stated in her high pitched voice, slowly raising her head to meet her gaze.

"And you are King Zarkon's personal confidant, Haggar?" Illandra replied. "You need not play games with me, witch. I know of your origins and the powers you weild. Your work for King Zarkon has not gone unnoticed within our kingdom; your successes...and your failures."

"Pleasantries aside, I see," Haggar stated as she neared the woman. "You are with your own secrets, as well; I can sense that within you."

"What is it you want, witch?"

Haggar smiled to herself as she stood just short of Illandra, staring directly into the young woman's face. Studying her, Haggar leaned heavily on her wooden staff then just smiled.

Illandra gasped as she stepped back, when the witch waved her hand casting a quick spell; a blue flame emitted from the old crone's bony hands, sending the projectile toward her. Quickly, the woman uttered a counter spell, which disperesed the magical flame as the air around them crackled with static and electricity. Haggar returned to leaning on her staff as she stared at the young woman.

"You did well, to hide your talents from me, Illandra," the witch stated. "Or shall I call you, Sylara?"

Illandra's eyes widened, which only caused the witch to laugh to herself.

"It's been a long time, Sylara," she stated. "The last I saw you, you were only a child. Then again, my appearance back then was also...different."

Illandra breathed in deeply then smiled to herself. "Barely a day, and you were able to break through my spells, Marlesa," Illandra smiled. "I'm impressed. Which makes me wonder, why you are having so much trouble against these gnats that have been a thorn in your master's side."

"Zarkon is no more my master, than you are under the command of your General," Haggar stated. "And please do not utter that name again, in my presence. Marlesa is an entity that is no longer part of my existence."

Illandra slowly nodded. "So, what do you want, Haggar?" she asked. "Or is it your interest in 'my General' as you have termed it, that interests you?"

Haggar smiled. "A very simple question, Illandra," she stated. "Who is he? But I feel that your answer will not be so simply stated."

Illandra smiled as she slowly moved past the old witch, returning to her task heading toward the meeting room. "Just come out and ask, Haggar," she said as she walked passed her, turning to her slightly. "You are unable to sense the life he lead up until what I've let you seen." Illandra then turned fully to her, one last time. "Yes, Haggar, I am blocking your efforts to see past what I want you to see. Tarris is under my protection, and nothing you will do...or can do will change that. It is because of my protection, we have succeeded where you have failed. And we are here to change that."

Haggar turned away. "Do not test me, Illandra," she said. "Since my time under Lienad, I've grown much more powerful, and I have delve deeper into the dark magic, where many have failed."

Illandra smiled as she turned away. "We will see how well you will be able to use that power, Haggar," she said. "Until then, it would be best that you do not meddle in my affairs. Tarris is to be left alone."

Haggar watched as the young woman continued down the hall, and disappear into the darkness of hallway beyond. She leaned heavily on her staff just as her Blue Cat, Coba, joined her by her side.

"She did say that I not meddle, in her affairs," she said as she held out her arm and Coba jumped into it. "However, Im sure you can find something that we both can use."

The Blue Cat let out a screech as she rubbed its fur, then let him jump from her arms to the floor. "Do your work well, and you will be rewarded."

The Blue Cat then darted off down the hall, following the path that Illandra had taken.

* * *

Admiral Benson stood before the single metal door, looking at the note that he had been given by one of the Castle's maids. He slowly waved his hand in front of the small door mechanism to the side, and after a few seconds, the door slid open before him.

He walked into the small room, and saw that it was small study of sorts, a small desk at one end of the room, that was covered in several folders and unfolded start charts.

"Admiral, thanks for coming."

Benson turned to see Keith slowly enter the room from an adjacent room.

"Commander," Benson stated with a smile. "Your note said it was urgent, but the maid who delivered it didn't state who wrote it."

Keith smiled as he came to meet the Admiral. "I didn't want to alarm you, but it was urgent that I speak to you," he said. "Please sit."

The Admiral followed the young man to the cluttered desk, where he took a seat in one of the chairs positioned there. Keith pulled out the chair that was behind the desk, and then searched under the star charts, to find a thick folder. He then placed the folder on the maps before him, and opened it.

"Hunk and Pidge finished running their diagnostics on the stolen ship," he stated. "And they happened upon valuable information, many that we can use in our fight against King Zarkon and his forces; and anticipate any new attacks by their new allies."

"I see," the Admiral stated.

"We will be sending the information we have to Galaxy Garrison in our final report, once we hand off the ship to its rightful owner..."

"However?"

Keith breathed in deeply as he pulled out a sheet of paper, and handed it to the Admiral. "This information was found on an item we located in the stolen ship," he stated.

Benson quickly looked over the piece of paper, with the itemized possesions that were found on the ship. And as Keith had guessed, the Admiral quickly looked up to him when he saw the last item on the list.

"Your brother's auto-bike?" Benson asked.

"Admiral...uncle...you have to tell me, what happened to my parents' ship when it was attacked?" Keith asked.

Benson could only look at the piece of paper in his hands. He then quickly stood, crossing his arms as he walked away from the young man, someone he had regarded as his own son while he watched him during years of being alone.

"Please Keith, understand that the decision to not release as much details about the attack on your parents' ship, was to safegard the technology we had lost," Benson stated as he walked toward the windows of the small room. "Yes, your parents' ship was attacked by a Drule force, and it wasn't until some years after the attack, that we were able to learn more about what had happened, when the peace treaty was signed.

"No one survived, Keith," Benson stated. "The Drule force that did attack was a rogue patrol from the 6th kingdom. They scavenged the ship and destroyed it once they were able to take what they wanted."

"What of the personnel aboard?"

"Of the 300 members aboard, only 3 were recorded as being survivors; however, those 3 were tortured and then killed," Benson stated. "Before you ask, the three were not your parents or your brother, Keith. We already informed the families of the three survivors, in secret, so that they could have some peace."

Keith slowly nodded. "The 6th kingdom was known to collude with the 4th on many of their attacks," he stated. "Could it be, that when they scavenged the ship, they turned over their findings to King Akian's forces?"

Benson nodded slowly. "Very much a possiblity," he said.

Keith then turned to him. "But why would a General, from the 4th kingdom have it?" he asked. "And the way its been set up, only those in my family would be able to operate it."

Benson could only shake his head. "I do not know," he said. "I can inquire with Garrison to see if they will release any more information on this, but I fear, that you will only be chasing ghosts."

"I understand," Keith stated. "I just wanted to bring this information forward to you, before I sent the report off to Galaxy Garrison. As we now know, the 4th kingdom wasn't very forthcoming when the entered into the neutrality treaty 8 years ago."

Benson looked to him and nodded. "Listen Keith, this unsettles me as well," he stated. "What we've now come to know about the 4th kingdom, I fear we need to be extra cautious. And their collusion with the 6th kingdom all those years ago..." He then sighed. "Look, it does raise some doubt about what happened all those years ago. I'll press the issue with Galaxy Garrison, so please try not to put this burden on yourself.

"Your parents were very close friends of mine, and I do want to put to rest any questions lingering from that attack," Benson reassured. "Right now, we need to concentrate on what is happening on Doom, and deal with this General Tarris. If he is joining forces with King Zarkon, then we must be ready for anything."

Keith nodded in agreement. "I understand Admiral," he stated. "We have only 2 hours till we meet with their entourage to return the ship to them. We can only hope that will be the last we see of them, but if the stories about this General Tarris are true, I share in your concern. Right now, we have a very green Beta team, who have no experience in flying any of the Lion ships. And I've already raised my concern over Fox's assignment to be leader of this team."

Benson regarded him for a moment. "You were against his appointment?"

"I was against him graduating the Academy," Keith said as he started to clean up the small desk. "He was rushed through the system, and barely put in any time in combat situations. I wanted someone with more experience."

Benson smiled. "Of course, your team had all the experience they needed when you first arrived here?"

Keith looked to him. "I'm not saying that we are perfect, either, but we had a long learning curve to overcome," he stated.

"I understand your concern," Benson stated. "But rest assured, you have a very rounded team as your backup. Hand chosen by Marshall Graham and several of the Galaxy Garrison council members. Lt. Fox is a very capable leader. The only thing I fear, is that he wants to be better than the Voltron Force..." He then smiled to himself. "He wants to be better than you."

"Being better doesn't mean being right." Keith said as he closed the folder, and placed it on the growing stack on the side of the desk. "He can be a be perfect in battle, but if his teammates do not trust him in his decisions, then what is the point of trying to be better?"

"You sound like your father," Benson commented. "If only he could see where you are now."

Keith looked to him. "I sometimes wish he was here," he said.

A comfortable silence fell between them, and it was Benson who broke it by clearing his throat. "Since you will be helping Princess Allura with the return of the ship, I'll oversee that the new team get acquainted with the inner workings of your Castle, and maybe throw them up into the new Alliance fighters. You may want the backup should something go awry."

With a nod, Benson took his leave.

* * *

"So we have an agreement?"

The meeting room where General Tarris and Prince Lotor met was actually one of the many "comfort" rooms that inhabited the Castle of Doom. Young women from many planets, danced to the calm music playing around them. Several other women, dressed even more scantily than the dancers, would appear often to refill the wine glasses that Prince Lotor and Tarris drank from, then disappear into the darkness of the dark room.

Illandra had remained quiet for much of the discussion between the Doom prince and Tarris. Preferring to listen to every word the young prince spoke. She was seated back on the long satin cloth couch, her legs stretched behind Tarris as he sat in front of her.

"Yes I believe this plan will work," Lotor stated. He then leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, placing the glass he held in his hand on a nearby table. "That is, if you still want to face the members invidually, you will have to be able to slip in undectected."

Tarris smiled. "This is where you come in, my prince," he stated. "With the distraction you will create, my team can slip under their radar and infiltrate their Castle."

"You do know that we've tried in the past?"

"I'm fully aware of your past endeavors to penetrate their defenses, and to try to destory the Castle within," Tarris said as he sat up straight. Illandra then leaned forward, placing her arm around him as she pulled him toward her. "That is not my plan."

Lotor regarded the man before him for a moment. "All this work just so that you can study them?"

"The best way to know one's enemy, my prince, is to see just what makes them weak," Tarris stated. "Unlike those who you have sent in before, including your witch Haggar, I will not be entering on a false pretense or disguised as someone the Voltron Force would take an interest in."

"I see," Lotor stated. "Then you must understand that no harm, shall befall the Princess Allura?"

"Of course," Tarris stated. "If you are interested in that petty girl, I will see that she will be delivered to you, unharmed and untouched."

"The Princess Allura is hardly a petty girl," Lotor stated.

Tarris slowly nodded. "Then if your heart is set to have her, I will be sure to treat her with the respect you wish upon her," he said. "Once we infiltrate the CAstle of Lions, your force shall remain in orbit behind Arus' moon. I will signal you when I've completed what I've set out to do. Upon my return, we can decide on our next plan of action."

"As a warning, General, do not string my father along for very along," Lotor stated. "He dislikes those who promise him results and fail to deliver."

"Which is why I plan to approach this situation and opportunity with the utmost care and attention," Tarris stated. "I like to study my prey before pouncing."

"I will see that Haggar has a robeast ready for you within the hour," Lotor stated as he stood.

General Tarris slowly got to his feet as he offered his hand to Illandra and she stood from the couch. "At that time, we will ready to leave for Arus."

As they moved to the large doors, one of the servants bowed slight and opened the door for them. Tarris extended his thanks as he left. Lotor was quick to block the exit of Illandra however, standing between her and the door. He pushed it slightly close as she met his gaze.

"And what is your role exactly?" he inquired. "Its a rare occasion when those I meet with, bring another member, who doesn't speak much."

Illandra stared at the young prince, then smiled as she stepped closer to him. "My role, my prince, is oversee the actions of my General," she stated. "I am his confidant, and I weigh in on the decisions he make. He seeks advice from me whenever possible." She then took another step toward him, as she reached around him to grab the handle of the door he was blocking. "Do you know why men fear me, my prince?" she whispered as she brought her face close to his, tilting her head as she did so.

"Should they have a reason to be afraid?"

Illandra laughed quietly to herself as she leaned into him, letting her cheek touch his own as she whispered into this ear. "I am General Tarris' most trusted team member, and I will do anything that he asks me too, including the taking of a life, even if its his own," she stated. "Do not test me, my prince. Your witch has tried an failed to get past my protection over the General. Any double crossing on your part, and you will have toads as your spawn, should you decide to sire children of your own. Im sure that will impress your precious Princess."

"Illandra."

The voice from the hall outside caused her to move away from the Prince and she pushed past him to exit the room. Lotor watched as the woman left the room, and as she and Tarris disappear down the hallway outside.

"Did you get what you need, Haggar?" Lotor asked as he turned into the room and the old witch emerged from the darken shadows of the room. She slowly picked up the glass that was left behind on the small table and tucked it away into the tattered robes she wore.

"More than enough, my prince," she said. "Illandra's spell over him, is too strong for me to break through. However, I may be able to extract the information I need from the glass he did drink from."

"So, that woman is a witch herself?"

"Yes my prince, and it is my suggestion that you leave her well enough alone," she warned. "A time for us to deal with this Tarris, will come. For now, lets placate your father by doing what they ask of us."

"They want a robeast within the hour."

"One shall be ready by the time your force is ready to leave."

* * *

TBC

Authors Note:

I know its been a while since I've updated any of my ongoing stories, but I had the writer's block I was experiencing finally dissolve away. So here I am catching up on those I left hanging. Hope you enjoy.


	7. Chapter 7

Hearts of Courage Arus arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com

Relative disclaimers apply.

* * *

Chapter 7

* * *

General Tarris studied the information provided to him, as he sat quietly in his private study, aboard the starship he commanded, as it sped towards the distant Planet Arus. The data pad he carried as he moved around the room, glowed green, reading through the many reports that King Zarkon's generals provided him. As he neared the elegant silk covered couch, he threw the data pad on the maroon colored cushions before taking a seat, grabbing the wine filled glass that was sitting on the small table before him.

He stared at the dark blood red liquid, his own image, reflected on the surface of the glass. The color of the wine reminded him of the only memory he could recall; waking up in a pool of his own blood, so he was told; Illandra there at his side, as she nursed him back to health, healing the wounds he received from who knows what battle he was involved in.

He breathed in deeply, trying to see if he could remember anything before that day, but all he could do was draw a blank. And after the many years that followed, he found that dwellling on his unknown past was just wasting his time. He devoted his energy and talents to helping King Akian achieve what he wanted, and that's what he found himself enjoying.

Now, he reveled in the idea that he would now have his chance in dealing with this Voltron Force; the stories about King Zarkon's and his son's defeat at the hands of a rag tag team of young men, reached his own ears. And the more he heard, the more he craved the idea of coming up against them.

He looked up as Illandra entered his study, the only person of his crew whom he allowed to go where she wanted without knocking or asking his permission to do so.

"It is time," she simply stated.

He nodded as he stood, grabbing the mask that he normally wore as he approached her. "You know the plan," he said. "Lotor's forces will provide the distraction we need."

She nodded. "We will follow your plans as ordered."

* * *

Lance let out a grunt as he stood to the side of Allura, waiting at the agreed upon location for Tarris' forces to retrieve the ship that Jeryn had stolen.

"The faster we get this done, the better I'll feel about all of this," Lance commented.

Allura slowly nodded. "We still don't know this Tarris well enough, so I'm going to do this all by regulations," she stated. She then watched a small dark ship passed over them, slowly landing about a 1/4 mile from where they were standing. "If this Tarris is anything like what we've heard so far, I expect Lotor's forces and robeast to be waiting for any singal he makes."

"Keith has the Beta team ready to go in the Arussian fighters," Lance whispered as he watched an entourage of 7 people slowly exit the Drule ship. "He's waiting in Black Lion just in case."

Allura nodded as the entourage approached them, a slim figure dressed in all black, sporting a black mask was at the lead. She presumed this to be General Tarris, and her assumption was verified when he came to stand before her, signaling for the rest of his team to stand back.

"General Tarris, under Galaxy Alliance regulations, we have agreed to return what has been stolen from you," Princess Allura started. "As you can see, we took the liberty of repairing your ship, as it sustained minor damage as it entered our atmosphere."

"And what of the cargo aboard?"

Allura eyed him. "The cargo you speak of, Prince Jeryn, is under our care, after suffering through suspended animation sickness," she stated. "And since he is a citizen of the Galaxy Alliance, he is now under our jurisdiction and our care. As per the treaty, no Galaxy Alliance citizen, may be held against their will."

The General slowly nodded, as he signaled for one of the men behind him to head toward the ship. Allura watched him carefully, the man entered the ship and slowlystarted it up.

"We have lived up to our end of our obligations, General," Allura stated. "Please take your men and your ships, and leave my planet immediately."

"I agree that you have lived up to your end of your obligations, Princess," Tarris stated. "But I'm no longer hindered by the Galaxy Alliance's treaty with King Akian. I no longer serve under him."

Lance quickly reacted to that statement, by putting his hand on the gun at his hip. Allura quickly held out her arm across him as she eyed the general.

"Do not believe for one second, General, that we assumed that you would stick to the treaty," she said. "You have 10 minutes to remove yourself and your forces off my planet, before the rest of my team shows up to force you off."

A soft chuckle came from the man before her as he stepped toward her. Lance immediately reacted by coming to stand before Allura and placing himself between her and the General.

"Prince Lotor is well justified in being enamored with you, Princess," he stated. "Keep your Prince Jeryn, he is of no use to me any more. I killed the last of the survivors of his pitiful planet. He is the last of his own people. Give my regards to Jeryn, if you will."

"Get off my planet." Allura stated slowly. She could see her reflection in the mask he wore as he took a step back.

With a laugh, Tarris slowly turned and signaled to the rest of his men. "Oh, Princess..."

Allura breathed in deeply as she eyed him. "I do thank you for the quick return of my ship," he stated. "And for that, Im sure the people of your town of Celus will appreciate being wiped off the face of this planet."

Just as he stated it, the comm unit on Lance's belt beeped. He quickly answered it as Coran came over the device.

"Lotor's forces detected in quadrant 4," Coran's report came through. "Robeast following behind."

"Have fun, princess."

Allura gritted her teeth as she watched the two Drule ships lift off. She quickly joined Lance in his Red Lion ship as they flew back to the Castle of Lions.

* * *

Tarris slowly breathed in deeply as he watched the skies toward the North of the Castle of Lions, turn a dark grey as several of Lotor's robot fighters were taken down by the Voltron Lion ships and the back up Arussian fighters. In the distance, he could make out the large form of Haggar's robeast as the Lion ships prepared to attack the monster.

He looked down to his feet at the prone body of the Castle guard he had just murdered. Infiltrating the Castle was easier than he thought. Illandra did as according to plan. She distracted the Princess Allura and provided him the opportunity to sneak into the Castle, undetected.

He quickly picked up the body before him and slowly heaved it over the railing of the balcony he was standing on. Looking over, he watched as it plunged into the moat below. It'll be at least a few days before the body would surface, and someone would find it. More than enough time for him to get what he needed and leave the Voltron Force with at least 1 member short.

* * *

Keith eyed the large robeast in front of him as he grabbed tightly onto the controls of his lion ship.

**Pidge, get me a read out pronto on this thing,** Keith asked. **Let me know if it has any surprises.**

**Ahead of you, chief,** Pidge answered. **Scanning now.**

Keith then looked to the radar on the side of his screen watching as the Beta team take out the last of the robot fighters.

**Commander Fox, have your team land and check through the town,** Keith ordered. **We'll draw the robeast away so that you are able to locate anyone who weren't able to evacuate in time.**

**Sir, if I may, I would like to have Lt. Hale and Lt. Bauer search the village, while Oura, Myers and remain to provide backup.** Dylan replied.

**Commander, follow my orders,** Keith stated. **I need your team on the ground, now!**

**Sir...**

**I don't have time for this, Commander Fox,** Keith nearly yelled. **Get your team on the ground, now, or I'll personally have your ass shipped back to Earth.**

**Understood, sir,** came Dylan's reply. **Beta team, will land in 5 minutes.**

**Keith, got your read out!** Pidge's exclamation interrupting the sudden tension that developed. **Lazon power; Robeast has a elemental base....seems to be fire.**

**Thanks, Pidge,** Keith stated. **Princess, Lance, work together to distract the monster; Hunk, Pidge, we will need to lure the damn thing to a source of water. There is Lake Mobia near by that should do the trick to slow this thing down.**

**Got ya, chief!** Lance's reply came. **Princess, let's start with formation Omega.**

**Understood.**

* * *

Admiral Benson let out a sigh as he stood before the meeting room and the door slid open to greet him with two raised voices as Princess Allura and Coran stood to the side.

He looked around to see Commander Fox, standing before the large table in the room as Keith stared the young man down.

"What part of my order did you not understand today, Commander?" Keith demanded of the young man.

"Sir, I felt that having my entire team to help search for a couple of stray survivors..."

"Stray survivors, Commander?" Keith asked. "There is no such thing as 'stray survivors, here on Arus. It is our responsibility to minimize damage and casualties as much as possible. 2 people wouldn't have been enough to locate those that may be trapped in collapsed buildings. I needed all of you on the ground to help in any search that may have been warranted."

Benson turned to Dylan seeing the young man stare down at his feet before him.

"Commander, if you want to ever become the pilot of Black Lion, you will need to learn that everything that happens here are not what they tell you in the books you've read at the academy," Keith stated. He then shook his head before turning to face the window behind him. "You're dismissed, Commander. However, tomorrow, you and your team will be up in those fighter ships doing practice runs. Set your alarms for 3 am Arus standard."

"Yes, sir," Dylan stated. With a quick salute, the young man turned on started for the door that Benson was near. With a nod, the young man then exited through the door as everyone in the room turned to meet his gaze.

"So I take it, that it went a little rough out there?" Benson asked as he walked up to the large meeting table.

"Admiral," Princess Allura started. "We had a little disagreement with Commander Fox, this afternoon. However, I think we have resolved the matter."

Benson slowly nodded. "Princess, Coran, if I may have a word with Keith for a moment?"

"Of course, Admiral."

As the door slid close behind Coran, Benson turned to Keith.

"I want him off the Beta Team, Admiral," Keith was quick to say.

"And have me go against Graham's wishes?" Benson asked. "You're asking me to commit career suicide if even try to."

Keith turned to the Admiral. "What is it, Admiral?" he asked. "Why is Graham so insistent on having him lead this team?"

"Did you have a chance to read his file?" Benson asked. "All the way through?"

Keith slowly shook his head.

Benson then nodded. "Please do so," he said. "Once you do, Im sure you'll understand why Commander Fox was chosen."

"Admiral, if he makes even one mistake where it puts the lives of my team or even one of his team members in danger, I want him on the next shuttle back to Earth," Keith stated. "I already have to deal with one hot head. I dont need another."

"Understood," Benson stated.

* * *

Tarris watched as and older gentleman and the leader of the Voltron Force, exit a small meeting room, and make their way down the hall as they continued whatever conversation they were having. Smiling to himself, he entered the hallway they were traveling down, as they headed toward him. And just as they reached where he was, he purposefully bumped into the young man, uttering a quick apology as they passed. After they were a distance away, he turned to look down the hallway to see the two men continue their walk.

* * *

Keith listened to the Admiral as they exited the small meeting room, and slowly walked down the hall. He was so engrossed in what Benson was saying that he hadn't noticed the guard they were passing until the bumped into each other. He quickly turned to the Castle guard as he uttered an apology.

However, after a moment, he felt something odd; a feeling of uneasiness settled over him after that bump. As he and Benson reached the end of the hall he quickly turned to see where the guard had gone, but noticed the hall was now empty.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Hearts of Courage  
Arus  
arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com

Relative disclaimers apply.

* * *

Chapter 8

* * *

**Again!**

Dylan swore under his breath as he gripped the controls before him tighter as he swung his ship around to face the angry looking canyon that his team were hovering above.

**This time, I want you all to complete the run in less than a minute,** he could hear Commander Takashi order over their communications system. **Fastest time for the canyon run was 36 seconds. I want you to get as close that time as possible.**

Dylan rolled his eyes as he took off his gloves to grip the controls again. "36 seconds my ass," he commented to himself. "We're in the freaking fighters, not the lions."

Suddenly, the image of Madison appeared in the lower right corner of his screen as she stared at him, a red light appearing on his console to signal that it was a private line. **Commander Michaels didn't accomplish that time in the lion ship, Dylan,** she stated. **It was done in the previous Arussian fighters, which were slower and less manueverable than these babies.** She paused for a moment as she took of her helmet. **Dylan, are you looking for an excuse to have the commander be pissed off at you?**

Dylan met her gaze. "Nothing I do will ever please that man," Dylan stated to her.

She smiled. **Why are you trying to please anyone?** she asked. With a smirk, she put her helmet back on and cut the communication.

With a groan, Dylan focused on the task at hand and waited for the signal to start their run again.

* * *

Keith turned to Lance as they stared at the view screen before them. Lance crossed his arms as he let out a soft chuckle.

00:38.03 flashed on the screen before them as they watched the five fighters maneuver out of the canyon and regroup at the far side.

"Isn't that better than your time?" Lance asked.

Keith smiled to himself as he stared at the view screen before him.

"Seems that Commander Fox is doing better than his team," Keith stated. "Have them do a couple of more runs. I want all of them to be under a minute."

"Yes, sir," Lance half saluted.

"Oh, an no, it wasn't better than my time," Keith said as he turned to his friend. "Close, but not better."

Lance smiled and nodded as he watched as Keith left the control room. He turned to the view screen before him as the watched the Beta Team hover over the canyon they just did a speed run through.

"Okay guys, we're going to do something a little different," Lance stated. "We'll do the canyon run a bit more, but I'm going to up the ante for you. Let's see just what you are all capable of."

* * *

Tarris spent most of the morning exploring the Castle of Lions, making mental notes of what areas were commonly used, and which areas were only accessed by those with higher security clearances. Through his exploration he realized that for a planet which was under the constant threat of King Zarkon's forces, the many workers and guards who inhabited the castle, seemed to maintain an atmosphere that was generally at peace. They castle maids went about their daily chores, the Guards were given assignments and they followed them, and when he was able to observe, Princess Allura continued to rule over her planet as if any attack by any of Zarkon's forces would be something she would approach as she approached any situation that would arise on her planet.

His musings also brought him to a section of the Castle that he had not noticed, as he opened a door and was greeted the most beautiful garden that he had ever seen. He stepped out onto the stone path eyeing the many the plants that had been used to fill the garden. As he followed the path, he came upon a sweet scent that filled the area and noticed the small rose bush, blooming with violet blue roses.

"Those are Azonias," came a voice from behind him.

He quickly turned as one of the Castle maids approached him, carrying a few items in her arms as she placed them down on a nearby table.

She then smiled. "At least that is what the Princess says they are," she said. "A gift to her and her mother from Planet Arcona."

She slowly turned to him and smiled. And as she did so, Tarris could only stare at her as she came to stand before him. "It's not every day that I get visitors to my little garden," she said. "Especially not from the Castle's guards." She regarded him for a moment. "What's your name?"

For some odd reason, Tarris could not even answer her. He just stared at her, wondering to himself why this woman seemed so familiar to him.

She smiled as she looked up at him. "It's alright," she said as she looked him over. "My name is Alania. I'm the Castle of Lion's appointed gardener, if you would like to call me that."

Realizing that she wasn't going to get an answer from the man, she turned to the rose bush, which was what caught his fancy. She took a pair of shears out of the pocket of the apron she wore and approached the small bush and clipped one of the budding roses. Turning to him, she held out the single flower to him, placing the shears back into her pocket.

"I don't know if you'll be back here any time soon, so take this," she said as she grabbed his hand and placed the stemmed flower into it. "I always look forward to any company I get here."

She slowly turned, but before she stepped away from him, he reached out and grabbed her arm, causing her to turn back to him. She eyed him, curiosity filled her as she met his gaze.

"You have no fear in your eyes..."

The comment caught her off guard for a moment, but she smiled. "What is there to fear?" she asked. "When you are enaged and are doing what you love to do, there is no need to fear anything."

"Alania, was it?" he asked.

She slowly nodded, keeping her smile as she kept his gaze on her.

"Tarris," he said as he let go of her arm.

He watched as her eyes brightened and her smile grew. "It's nice to meet you," she said. "I hope that you like what you see here. I do wish that more would see the work that I've put into this little garden."

Tarris then felt another presence in the garden, but did not turn around.

"Excuse me..."

Alania turned from him as she greeted the person who entered the garden. Tarris turned his head slightly, recognizing the voice behind him.

"If you'll pardon me, Alania," he stated. He then spied another door at the far end of the garden, and started toward it.

Alania nodded and turned to watch as he leave and exit the garden as the other young man who entered approached her.

"Hi," the young man said as he came to stand before her. "I was told that a girl named Alania was the person who maintained this garden."

She smiled as she turned to the young man, almost taken aback by his amber gaze.

"Ah...you must be Prince Jeryn," she stated. "The princess told me that you would be by sometime."

The man smiled. "Yes," he said. "You...you..."

She placed a gentle hand on his arm as she stepped back and slowly brought him over to the small rose bush that she was just standing in front of.

"The princess told me everything," she said with a smile. "I'll leave you so that you can be alone."

He turned to her. "Thank you."

* * *

Dylan let out a groan as he took off his jacket and threw it onto a nearby chair as his team walked into the rec room.

"Damn that was a workout!" Madison said as she walked into the room behind him, and flopped herself onto the long couch at the far end of the room. "I don't think I've ever been both mentally and physically tired in all my life."

Dylan ignored Madison as he took a seat in the nearby single chair as he leaned into the cushions behind him. Reiji then came up to him and handed him a bottle of water before taking a seat next to Madison.

"These tests are designed to see how we can handle the different situations we may encounter, while battling Zarkon's forces," he commented. He then looked to his commander and saw the apprehension and somewhat defeated expression he wore. "Dylan, we have to work with the main team if we are going to even get a chance to train in the lions."

Dylan looked at the youngest member of his team. "And that is if the Lions will even accept us," Dylan commented as he leaned foward. "We could be doing all this training and in the end, its still the Lions that will accept us or not."

Madison looked to him. "So you believe in that?"

Dylan nodded. "Take a look at our team, Maddy," he said. "Look at us. Look at the original Team."

Madison turned to Reiji, who slowly nodded. Of all the team members, Dylan knew that Reiji would have picked up what he noticed when they were first notified of their new assignment.

Madison looked at everyone, as Jian and Eysia joined them.

"Graham and the council chose use specifically for us to be together," Dylan stated. "Don't you wonder why we were chosen to be together?"

Madison leaned forward. "Are you saying that the Lions will only accept us if we are as close in personality and demeanor as to the original team?"

"..and to the Lions themselves," Reiji added.

"What?"

Dylan looked to her. "Sorry to use Reiji as an example, but if I am correct, he will be asked to pilot the Green Lion as backup to Pidge. He and Pidge share the same enthusiastic nature, are both intellectually superior to most on this team, but are grounded. Green Lion embodies all of these qualities by being the Lion is in tune with nature all around it."

Madison turned to him as Reiji slowly nodded in agreement.

"Eysia, will pilot Yellow as back up to Hunk; Eysia like Hunk, and Yellow, are our brute force, but and like the Earth, will be our base to support our entire team," Dylan continued. "Jian, back up for Lance in Red; and like Lance and Red Lion are driven by their passion act on their 'gut'. And you will be back up to the Princess in Blue, your ability to assess a situation and able to change your attack patterns as well as follow orders are like that of the water around us that powers that lion."

Madison slowly nodded as their group huddled together as she then met Dylan's gaze. "Why you?" she asked. "Why were you asked to lead? You're nothing like Commander Takashi."

Everyone turned to him. Dylan only stared at the table before him. "The Commander and I are more alike than you know.."

* * *

Keith stared at the view screen before him as he sat in the control room. He pulled up the reports from the patrols from earlier in the day.

"All patrols have reported in," Coran stated as he also looked over the reports. "Celus will definitely need our attention in the coming days to help rebuild some of their buildings that were destroyed in the last attack. Luckily the shelters we built prior to their attack helped in the speed of the evacuation of the town."

Keith nodded. He then turned when the doors to the control room opened and two guards entered. Coran turned to the approaching guards seeing that one of them was carrying a file.

"Ah, looks like Lance was able to finish his report on time for once," Coran stated as the guard carrying the folder approached them.

Keith stood as he greeted the guard, and took the folder from him. "Evaluations of the tests done today on the Beta Team," he stated. He looked at the guard, nodding his thanks. "Canyon run seems to be on par with what Lance did in the new fighters."

Coran smiled to himself. "He put them through extra exercises as well," he stated. "Im impressed with their numbers."

"Sir, if you are fine with the reports, we will report back to our duty stations."

Keith and Coran turned to the two guards. "Sorry, you're both dismissed," Coran stated.

Keith watched as the two guards salute then made their way back to the control room doors. Again that uneasiness from the day before, that he felt, came to him again.

"What is it Commander?" Coran asked noticing the uneasiness that Keith was feeling.

"Just..." Keith started as he watched the two guards leave the control room. "Just that I have a weird feeling that yesterday..."

Coran looked to him, a little concerned that Keith was at a loss for words. "Do you think it had to something with the exchange yesterday?"

Keith shook his head a little but then nodded. "It's just that....I haven't felt like this...in years," he said. "Can you have Lance and Benson meet me in my study in 30 minutes?"

Coran nodded. "Want Allura there too?"

"No...let me speak with Lance first," Keith said. "If anyone would have noticed something off, Lance would have."

"Understood."

* * *

Tarris smiled to himself as he walked down the hallway from the Control room, eyeing the guard that he was walking with. This was all too simple, and he mused, how easily it would be to get to any one of the members of the Voltron Force. They were so trusting of their own people.

With a nod, the second guard he walked with had turned down another hall, as he continued walking down the current hall he was traveling. After a day of exploring, he had the information he needed and he was now going to work on the next part of his mission.

As he walked down the hallway, he took the quickest route to the observation deck. Here he knew that the members would gather together should they be drawn up here. Their actions were so predictable. And it was here that he would execute his plan to get rid of at least one of the members of the Voltron Force.

* * *

Allura smiled as she walked with Alania to one of the grand ballrooms to have it set up for a dignitary that would be arriving in a few days. As she opened the doors and turned on the lights, she smiled seeing that Nanny was already well on her way to preparing the room.

"We'll need a flower arrangement on each of the 40 tables in this room, but keep it to simple blossoms," Allura stated as she turned to Alania. "If you don't have enough, I can arrange to have some brought in from Vihem. Just give me a list of what flowers you will need."

Allura smiled to herself seeing that Alania had somewhat a far off look in her expression as she looked around the room.

"Alania, what is it?" Allura inquired. "You've been quiet all day."

The young girl turned to her. "Oh, I apologize, princess," she said as she turned to her. "I was just thinking..."

Allura smiled. "Thinking of something....or someone?"

The princess smiled as a light flush came to the young girl. "Oh so it is a someone?" Allura asked.

"It's nothing, princess," she stated. "Just that one of the Castle guards came to the garden today. He was rather odd."

Allura smiled. "Odd you say?" she asked. "But he interested you, hmm?"

"Oh, it's nothing, princess," she said. "Just call it a girl's imagination going a little wild. He seemed nice, but a little confused."

"Did you get his name at least?"

Alania smiled. "I believe that he said his name was Tarris," Alania stated as she turned to the room before her.

"Wait...what did you say?"

Alania turned to Allura seeing that her face turned to one of concern. "Tarris," Alania stated. "He said his name was Tarris."

"Listen, Alania, work in this room and have a list of the flowers you will need," Allura said quickly. "I have to go and meet with Coran."

"Allura, what is wrong?" Alania asked.

"It may be nothing," Allura said with a faint smile. "If I need you, I'll summon for you."

"Alright," Alania stated. She then watched as Allura leave the ballroom in a hurry.

She looked around the room one last time at the cloth covered tables, making a mental note of what kind of flowers would be needed to decorate them. She then breathed in deeply as she turned around, only ending up walking into the person who stood behind her.

She gasped as she took a step back, then smiled seeing who it was. "Didn't realize that you were assigned this area of the Castle," she commented. "What brings you by?"

Tarris smiled as he took her by the arm. "I'm curious," he started. "What's the most secluded place in this castle where we can see the stars?"

* * *

Lance slowly shook his head as he looked to Benson, who was standing nearby with his arms crossed.

"Are you sure?"

Keith nodded as he looked toward the older man. "I haven't felt this uneasy in years," he stated. "Not since that day."

Benson nodded. He then turned to Lance. "At the exchange did you feel anything off in meeting with General Tarris?"

Lance could only breathe in deeply as he thought over the event. "Nothing that I could detect, but he did make it known that he was no longer under the command of King Akian," he said. Lance then scratched his head. "But..."

"What is it?"

"There was something off in his demeanor," he said. "Not like when we encountered him two days ago....it was actually kind of weird."

Benson turned to him. "How so?"

"I mean..." Lance slowly stood. "Isn't this General supposed to be like, the best that the Drule supremacy has ever produced?"

"According to our reports, yes," Benson stated.

"Then the man we met yesterday, could not have been the General," he said.

A loud beep then signaled at the door and Keith pressed a button at his desk to have the door slide open. He quickly stood as Coran entered the room, followed by Princess Allura and Prince Jeryn.

"We have a problem," Coran stated. "It seems that we have been infiltrated."

Lance stepped in front of Keith as he met Coran. "What do you mean?"

"I just spoke with Alania and she says that she encountered one of the Castle guards in her garden this afternoon," Allura stated as she met everyone's gaze. "The man she met told her that his name was Tarris."

Keith turned to her. "What?"

"And I took the liberty to check who is on duty today," Coran stated. "A guard is missing, Sergeant Detric. He did not report to his station and did not call in to say that he was sick or would not be showing up."

"Did Alania say where this guard went?"

Allura shook her head. "After I told Coran of this and he checked over the roster, we tried to locate Alania," she said. "She's missing."

"Damnit," Keith swore under his breath. "We don't even know what this guy looks like."

"If it may help Commander," Prince Jeryn stated. "I do know what Tarris looks like, without the mask he wears."

"We can't do a manhunt in the Castle with you tagging along, your highness," Keith stated. "As it is, it took 10 years to finally get you back. We can't afford him an opportunity to take you hostage again."

"I fully understand," Jeryn stated. "I can help Coran organize your search of the Castle from the control room."

Keith nodded. "Coran, have the Beta Team meet us in the Control room and call in 10 guards to join us," he said. "I'll get Hunk and Pidge and we'll meet there in 10 minutes."

Coran nodded. "Prince Jeryn, come with me, we'll need to get your description of Tarris so that we can give it to the search parties."

* * *

Tarris breathed in deeply as he stared at the stars in the sky above him. It had been a while that he had a chance to see stars. Planet Coeus was completely covered in tall buildings and blinding lights that turned the night sky into a blank canvas. And on Doom, one could not see anything past the electric storms that covered the planet. Here on Arus, he had a view of sky that was alien to him, but comforting at the same time.

A slight sound came from his left side and he turned slightly to see the young maid he had brought with him. She was asleep, leaning against him for support. It had been nearly an hour since they had come to the Castle's Gardens to look at the stars. He used it as an excuse so that we was nowhere in the Castle to be found. However, for whatever reason, he knew that he had to find this young woman since their encounter earlier that afternoon. There was something about her that intrigued him. A familiarity that he could not understand.

He breathed in again, taking in the cool night air as he slightly moved. Whatever happened in the next hour, he knew that the last part of his plan was already underway. The Voltron Force were now searching the Castle for his whereabouts; they were probably now aware of their missing maid, and would now have covered at least half the castle looking for them. He turned to the girl again. The water he gave her earlier was laced with a strong sedative. She would be asleep for a while, as his plan came to fruition. He looked down at the device he wore on his left hand and noted the time. With that, he slowly stood, scooping up the young woman in his arms as he made his way back into the Castle.

* * *

Jeryn breathed in deeply as he watched the screen before him. "We've covered almost the entire Castle," Jeryn stated to Coran. "And beyond the 10 guards, we have all the guards sequestered outside. If he is here, he has to be in this Castle."

Coran nodded. "Are you sure that your description of Tarris is correct?" he asked.

"I've seen that man nearly every day for the last 10 years of my life," Jeryn stated. "In all of Arcona, I will never forget that man's face."

Coran nodded. "What happened to his right eye?"

Jeryn smiled to himself. "At least I can claim responsibility to that," he said. "Wrong end of a make shift blow torch."

Coran read over the description again and looked at the sketch that was created based off of Jeryn's description. As he studied the sketch, he slowly seated himself into the chair beside him. He breathed in deeply as a sudden chill coursed through him, and he quickly pressed a button on the console before him.

"Admiral Benson, please come to the control room as soon as you can," Coran stated over the system.

Jeryn turned to him seeing that Coran looked as if he had seen a ghost. The color from his face had completely drained, and his right hand was shaking violently as he gripped the sketch in his hand tightly.

"Coran, what is it?"

"Find Admiral Benson," Coran barely spoke. "I need him."

* * *

Dylan and Madison along with the two guards they were assigned quickly searched through the three rooms on the floor they were on. They were heading toward the North Observation room, searching every room along the way, each turning up empty.

"Sir, these rooms are clear," a guard reported to him as they gathered at the end of the hallway, in front of the last flight of stairs that would take them to the observation level.

"Keep an eye on this level; Lt. Hale and I will check the observation room above," Dylan stated. "Give us 5 minutes. This is the last room we have on this side of the castle."

"Understood, commander."

Dylan turned toward Madison as he signaled for her to ready the gun at her waist. They slowly made their way up the stairs that lead to the observation room. As they neared the door at the top of the stiars, Dylan readied his weapon and punched a button on the panel before it. The door slid open, the dark room inside only illuminated by the moonlight.

He turned to Madison and signaled for her to stay behind him, as they entered the room slowly. His eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness of the room as he hugged the inside wall next to the door. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but it was Madison's gasp that drew his attention from the center of the room, to the balcony just outside of the large viewing windows.

"Its the missing maid," Madison stated as she ran up to the window looking for the switch that would slide up the window to open the room to the balcony.

"Maddy, wait," Dylan stated as he grabbed for the com unit on his belt.

His warning came late as the panel that Maddision touched suddenly let out an electrical jolt that sent her flying across the room. She let out a groan as she hit the far wall, cursing under her breath as she cradeled her head. "Fucking booby trap."

Dylan slowly walked up to her as he heard commotion from the stairwell. The two guards they left on the floor below entered the room entered the room to investigate the noise they heard.

"Sir, anything happened?"

"Get Coran on the com," Dylan ordered them. "And wait downstairs. Tell them we found Alania, but she is trapped on the balcony outside of this Observation room."

"Understood," one of the guards stated as he backtracked down the stairs.

Madison shook her head as she turned to Dylan. "Damn fucking trap," she muttered.

"You alright?" Dylan asked as he turned back to her.

"Yeah, yeah," she said. "I'm fine. Should have realized that ass would booby trap the damn panel."

She shook her head again, trying to clear the sudden dizziness she felt. She then looked up to Dylan and then noticed the dark figure standing in the doorway behind him. Dylan saw her reaction and immediately grabbed for the gun on his belt, but before he could turn around to face whomever surprised Madison, he felt a sharp and sudden pain to the back of his head, and then his whole world went black.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Hearts of Courage  
Arus  
arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com

Relative disclaimers apply.

* * *

Chapter 9

* * *

Keith and Lance quickly made their way to the North tower, where the North Observation level was. There they were greeted by several guards, Hunk, Pidge and Eysia.

"Sir, Commander Fox and Lt. Hale are in the observation room above," the guard notified them. "Its been ten minutes since either of them entered the room, and I haven't heard back from Sergeant Nichols."

"Is everyone alright?" Lance asked. "How is the maid?"

"She is trapped on the balcony just outside of the room," the guard informed them. "Unconscious it seems."

Keith nodded as he turned to Lance. "Hunk, you and Eysia stay behind, Pidge I'll need you to come up in 5 minutes while we check out the room," Keith stated. "If he has rigged the panel, I dont want anyone trying to open those windows to try and get to Alania."

The youngest member nodded. "Just give the signal, Chief."

Turning to Lance, they both pulled their guns from their holster as they made their way up the stairwell. Before them, they could see that Dylan had not turned the lights on the room yet, which told Keith that something was wrong. He looked down at Lance, who was following close behind him seeing that Lance also had felt the same. Slowly they ascended the stairs and as they approached the door, Lance quickly looked into the room. The moonlight filtered in through the windows, illuminating the center of the room. There he made out the prone form of Commander Fox.

Keith then signaled him to hug the wall as they enter the room, since there were still some areas of the room that was shrouded in darkness. Scanning the room as they entered, Lance hugged the wall to his left as Keith took the wall to his right. He found the panel that would turn on the lights in the room, but found that it was destroyed. Turning to Keith, he signaled that he would slowly make his way toward where Dylan was lying on the floor. Keith nodded and slowly made his way toward the windows, to see if he could asses the condition of Alania.

Lance quickly made his way to Dylan when suddenly the lights in the room, and those on the balcony turned on. Keith then stood back from the windows when he saw a dark figure holding a long knife to Madison's neck as he stared at both of them from the other side of the observation room windows.

"Ah, the irony, as it seems," the man stated. "I have both the leaders and the 2nd in commands of Voltron right in this very room. I couldn't have planned it any better."

* * *

Coran looked to Admiral Benson as he showed the altered sketch to him. As Benson looked it over he slowly had to take a seat in the chair at the Control panel to understand fully what Coran had seen in the image.

"Who is he, Admiral?" Coran asked.

Prince Jeryn watched as confusion crossed over the Admiral's face as he looked from the sketch to the many photos that littered the top of the control panel he sat in front of.

"Admiral?"

Benson looked up from the sketch to Coran meeting his concerned gaze. "Who is he?"

"It can't be," Benson nearly whispered. "The entire crew...they all died."

"Admiral, tell us, who is he?"

* * *

Keith stared at the man who stood on the other side of the glass windows as Lance struggled to wake Dylan. Madison struggled against his hold as he held the knife against her neck.

"Lance, get Dylan out of here, now," Keith ordered as he turned to his second in command. "Tell Pidge to wait for my signal before coming up here."

Lance looked to him and slowly nodded. He then grabbed a hold of Dylan's arm and wrapped it around his neck as he slowly stood.

"Don't move, Lt. Michaels," the man ordered. "Or I will end her life, like I've ended millions of others before her."

Lance looked to Keith as he stared at the man. "General Tarris, I presume?" Keith stated. "You have two hostages, and I will remain in this room. Let my man take the injured down to be looked at."

"And have a swarm of your guards and the rest of you team barge up those stairs?" Tarris asked as he eyed him.

"You have my word that no one else will enter this room," Keith stated.

Tarris smiled as he tightened his grip around Madison. "You have 1 minute to get him out of here, Lieutenant."

Lance nodded toward Keith as he slowly dragged Dylan from the room to make his way down the stairs to the lower level. Keith made sure that he was clear of the room before turning to General Tarris.

"Now, what is it you want, General?" Keith asked as he turned toward the windows again. "You are holding hostage an officer of the Galaxy Alliance. Any which way you take it, you will be caught and arrested."

The man laughed as he stared at him. "I've received what I came here for, commander," he stated. "And I must commend you on your endeavors up until now."

"I know that you aren't here to flatter us, General," Keith stated. "And Im sure you did get what you had come here for. Now, since we are at an impass, I request that you release your hostages and surrender to us."

"Oh, my dear Commander, you know very well that I will do no such thing," Tarris stated. He then looked down at Madison as he held the knife closer to her neck. "Tell me commander, what will happen if you lose 1 member from each of your Voltron teams?"

Tarris looked up from Madison and met Keith's gaze. He then smiled knowing full well what the answer would be.

"Well then, I thank you for this very enlightening conversation," Tarris said as he withdrew his knife from Madision's neck. "But I must take my leave."

Madison met Keith's gaze then she slowly looked down at the knife at her neck. She then made a grab for the knife, grabbing ahold of Tarris hand as she dug her nails into it. Tarris let out a hiss as the knife he held dropped. Keith then reacted when the window before him slid open and Tarris pushed Madison through it before it slid close again. Keith helped her to her feet as they both turned to the window seeing now that he held Alania in his arms.

"You will hear from us soon," Tarris stated.

Keith then approached the window to see if there would be anyway to open it. Then a high pitched beep sounded, causing him to see the small black box at the edge of the window.

"Madison, down!" he yelled.

* * *

Lance stumbled down the stairs as he carried Dylan down it. Eysia and Hunk were quick to meet him as Hunk took the unconscious commander into his arms. He turned and watched as Allura and Reiji came toward them from down the hall, meeting them.

"Did you find General Tarris?" Allura asked.

"He's up in the Observation room above," Lance stated. "He has both Alania and Madison as his hostages. Keith is trying to buy us some time."

Allura turned to Hunk as he held Dylan in his arms. "Hunk, please take Commander Fox to the infirmary," she stated. "Eysia, Reiji, we'll need you to stay back. Lance and Pidge, do you think we can get into the room without causing Madison or Alania any harm?"

Lance slowly nodded. "The controls for the windows have been overwritten, but I think Pidge can crack the controls from the door panel," Lance said. "We'll have to hurry."

Allura nodded. She then signaled for Lance and Pidge to make their way up to the Observation room. But as they took the stairs, a sudden explosion filled the room above them, causing the entire area they were in to shake and a sudden force sent them flying down the stairs and onto the floor below. Smoke and ash rained down on the group as they stared at the darkened stairwell. Allura's ears were ringing, as all noise around her was muffled. She looked around to see Lance and Pidge slowly get to their feet as the muffled klaxons of the Castle alarms started to sound. Suddenly, she felt the harsh sting of the fire sprinkler system turn on, hitting her as she was suddenly hoisted to her feet by Eysia.

He was yelling something to her, but she could not make out his words. A feeling of uneasiness settled over her as the ringing in her ears subsided, and the alarms became more clear. The water from the sprinklers had soaked her, but all she could do was stare at the stairs that lead to the Observation room.

Then it hit her. The room was destroyed, and two of her team members had been in that room.

"No!" she croaked out as she struggled out of Eysia's hold on her. "No...no, no no no."

Lance was quick to react as she tried to crawl over him to climb up the damaged stairwell. He grabbed onto her waist as he pulled her down. "Allura!" he yelled. "You can't go up there!"

"Let go of me!" she yelled. "We have to get to them!" She struggled against him. "God damn it Lance, let me go!"

Lance nearly slipped as he got to his feet as he fought against Allura's attempts to get past him. He looked to Eysia for help and the tall man of the Beta Team grabbed ahold of the Princess and slowly pulled her away from the stairwell.

"Sorry, princess, but ye can't be going up into that room until the sprinkler system takes cares of the fires," the taller man stated. "No use for us to add to the injured list."

Allura turned to him as tears edged at her eyes. She then turned to Lance as she heard him swear under his breath as he tried to get Pidge to move off the stairwell. One of the Castle guards came up to him, taking ahold of the young pilot and nodded as Lance told him to take the young boy to the infirmary.

Suddenly, Lance grabbed a hold of the ringing com unit from his belt as he tried to hear it over the sound of the sprinklers.

"Coran!" Lance yelled.

*We heard and felt an explosion,* came Coran's reply. *Is anyone hurt?*

"Commander Fox and Pidge were injured," Lance yelled, nearly breathless. "They're being taken to the infirmary as we speak."

*What of the Princess?*

"She's fine, a little bruised but she's fine," Lance said. "Coran, the Northern Observation room....it....it was destroyed by Tarris."

*Alania?*

"Don't know," Lance replied. Allura then watched as he fell to his knees. "Coran....Madison.....Madison and Keith....."

*What happened Lance?* Coran's question came over the com unit.

Before he could answer, Eysia released his hold on the Princess and made his way up the stairs, grabbing a hold of Lance's jacket before he barged up the flight of stairs. Lance slowly got to his feet as Allura, Reiji and he watched as the man entered the black smoke that filled the stairwell.

A few moments later, two figures emerged from the smoke. Lance was quick to meet him as he brought down a coughing yet a little singed Madison down the stairwell. The young woman nearly collapsed as she reached the bottom of the stairwell as she continued to cough.

"Reiji, get her to the infirmary," Lance stated.

Madison met his gaze as she slowly shook her head. "No," she struggled to say. "Commander Takashi....he...he's still up there. Tarris...he placed the explosives around the windows. He...he took the brunt of it."

Lance turned to Eysia as he helped Madison to her feet. Eysia then slowly turned to head back up the stairwell. Reiji took Madison by her arm as he slowly led her away from the area. Three guards, Lance Allura waited for Eysia to return. It seemed like an eternity had passed, but Lance was first to notice the large form coming down the stairs. He rushed to the bottom of the stairs as Eysia uncovered himself of the jacket and let it fall to the ground, however had turned his back toward the Princess as he held Keith in his arms.

"We have to get him to the infirmary," Eysia stated nearly breathless. He then leaned into Lance. "Best that you take the Princess before she sees him. Maddy was right, he took the brunt of the explosion."

Lance slowly nodded as he grabbed his jacket and headed toward Allura. Before she could protest, he grabbed her by her arm and started to pull her down the hall.

"Lance, what is it?" Allura asked.

"Not now, princess," he said. "Eysia is taking Keith down to the infirmary."

"Is he alright?"

Lance turned to her as they continued down the hall, but he couldn't say anything to her. Allura met his gaze seeing the pain behind his eyes. "Lance...."

"Don't," he said as he turned away from her. "Don't Allura."

* * *

Illandra eyed Tarris as he slowly stepped onto his ship carrying the unconscious form of the Caslte of Lions maid. He met her questioning gaze but she remained silent as he walked toward his personal quarters aboard the ship.

"Our plan was not to take any hostages," Illandra stated as he laid the young woman down on the bed within the room.

"The plan changed at the last moment," Tarris stated as he covered the young woman with the blankets that covered the bed. "However, the main Voltron Force team are now without their commander."

Illandra met his gaze as he turned to her. "Damn it Tarris, we can't afford to have the Voltron Force come after us because we took one their maids," Illandra hissed. "We can't give them any reason to pursue us back to Doom."

Tarris was quick to walk toward her as he slapped her across her face. Illandra hissed as the sting of the slap migrated across her skin. She looked at him as she recovered.

"They will not pursue us," he stated. "Without their commander, they will do nothing of the sort. Their Castle is now damaged, they are two members short, and will not be able to form that blasted robot." He then slapped her again. "Don't you ever question my motives again. Of all the people under my command, Illandra, I will not have you question what I do. We came here to weaken the Voltron Force. I've done that."

Illandra slowly nodded as he walked away from her. "Notify Lotor that the deed is done," he stated. "He can commence his attack on Arus, without much opposition from their defensive force."

"Yes, General," she stated. "And what of the girl?"

"She's under my protection for the time being," he said.

Seeing that he would not speak further, she bowed slightly before exiting the small room. As the door slid closed behind her, she breathed in deeply as she stared down the hall. The sting of the slaps still could be felt, as she raised her hand to her left cheek. Never before had Tarris ever struck her. She wondered what happened on Arus to suddenly change his plan, let alone why the young woman he brought aboard was so important now.

* * *

Dylan winced as the nurse checked over the back of his head as she applied iodine to the cut he received. She then came to stand in front of him as she placed an ice pack in his hand.

"Keep it on the bump for no more than 20 minutes, and let it rest," she stated. "It will probably get bigger as it swells, but in 48 hours, you should see a reduction."

Dylan slowly nodded as she then handed him two pills. "These should take care of the headache you will have," she said. "And these, you will need later. No more than 8 pills in a 24 hour period." She then let out a sigh as she looked him over. "Go on, your friends are waiting for you outside."

"Was anyone else hurt?" Dylan asked.

"You will know soon enough," she said. "Go on, Dr. Gorma is waiting."

Dylan slowly nodded as he got off the bed he was on, placing the ice pack to the bump on the side of his head. He slowly walked through the infirmary seeing that it wasn't filled, so the damage must have been kept to the observation room. The main area of the infirmary was filled, with the rest of his teammates along with the main Voltron Force members. However, he quickly noted that several were missing. Madison, Lance, Eysia, the Princess as well as Keith were missing.

Coran stood as Dylan entered the room, so did Admiral Benson as well as the rest of his team. "Are you alright, Commander?"

Dylan slowly nodded, however kept silent seeing that he was unaware of what happened while he was knocked out.

"Commander, if you please."

Dylan turned to see Dr. Gorma standing behind him, and moved toward the group to join them.

"Alan, any news," Coran asked.

"Lance and the Princess are suffering from eardrum damage due to the explosion and are being treated for their injuries," Dr. Gorma started. "Luckily, the damage will only last a few weeks, but they will have a slight hearing loss during this time.

"Lt. Bauer and Lt. Hale suffered smoke inhalation; with Lt. Hale receiving the worst of it," he continued. "We have them both on a respirator until we can assess the extent of the damage to their lungs. With some time, they will heal, but I cannot have them on active duty while they do."

"Doctor, what of Commander Takashi?" Benson asked.

"The explosives were set by the windows of the Observation room," Dr. Gorma started. "From what Lt. Hale described, Commander Takashi was closest to the windows and the blast when they exploded.

"The explosion sent thousands of shards of glass flying everywhere," he continued. "Commander Takashi took most of it since he was in the path of the explosion, more than likely he was trying to protect Lt. Hale from the blast. The shards vary in size, but they have peppered his body and tore through most of the muscle in his arms and legs. Its going to take hours just to remove the glass shards in an operation, and we can't even be sure that we will get all of it. Right now we are trying to get him to recover from the shock of the explosion. We will need him to be awake for the start of the operation. If we don't start soon, any shards that perforated his muscles and are still embedded, may severe crucial nerves and blood vessels. And even then, we can't even guarantee the success. If we can't repair the damage to done to his muscles, he may not be able to move his arms or even walk...again. I will need permission from, you Admiral, to start the operation. We will have to force the Commander out of the induced sleep we put him in. The operation however will have to be done without anesthesia, until we are well into it and have removed as much of the shards as possible. Only at that time, can we work to repair the muscle damage."

The weight of Dr. Gorma's assessment could be felt in the small room as everyone remained silent. Benson slowly nodded as he stood. "You have my permission, Doctor," he said. "Do what you can to save him."

Dr. Gorma nodded. "The Commander is in good hands," he added. "We will do everything we can to save him."

Coran cleared his throat, as he stood again. "And I believe that the best thing we can do, is to leave Dr. Gorma and his team to attend to the injured," he stated. "We have a damaged area of the Castle to tend to, and I want round the clock surveillance. Lt. Myers and Lt. Oura, please work with Hunk and Pidge to start on the repairs to the Nothern Observation room. Seal up the area until we can assess any structural damage. Commander Fox, please accompany me to the Control Room."

"Coran, if it pleases you, I am going to stay behind," Benson stated. "We will continue where we left off before the explosion later."

Coran nodded. "Commander Fox, this way."

* * *

Jeryn stood as Coran entered the Control room followed by Commander Fox. Coran nodded to him as the young Prince seated himself again as Coran pressed a button the console before him.

"I'm taking a huge chance by giving this to you, but we are at a crisis point as it seems," he stated. "I hope that you had a good rest Commander, as you will be training in the Black Lion starting from today."

Dylan could only feel surprised as Coran handed him the key to the main lion ship.

"Of course, that is, if the Lion ship will accept you," Coran stated. "I cannot stress how important this is, Commander. I know that you and Commander Takashi have not gotten along since your team had arrived on Arus, but the lion ships do not care about petty squabbles or disagreements. They can sense your true purpose for being their pilot. Put aside your worries and any apprehensions you have. Right now, we cannot afford to have Arus undefended. Your team, the main team, both are missing vital members. But together, I know that we will not be without our protector."

Dylan slowly nodded as he looked down at the key he held in his hands. "I promise, Coran," he started to say. "I will do my best to prove to you that I belong here."

Coran slowly shook his head. "It isn't I that you need to prove yourself to, Commander," he stated. "That is the first thing you have to figure out before the lion ship will fully accept you."

* * *

Benson crossed his arms as the nurse put the finishing touches on both the princess' and Lance's bandages for the smaller cuts and bruises they received, and gave them a bottle of medication for both of their preforated ear drums. The princess was the first to move off the infirmary bed as she stood before Benson.

"How is everyone?" she asked.

"Did Dr. Gorma give you the run down?" he asked.

Allura slowly nodded. "Madison and Eysia are being treated for smoke inhalation," she said. "Dylan is with Coran right now, but he came away with only a slight bump to the head."

Benson slowly nodded. "Dr. Gorma feels that everyone will heal and come away with a few scars to remember the events of today by," he said.

"Admiral, what about Keith?" she asked.

"I'm afraid, that he is the worst off, Princess."

Allura turned to Lance as he came to stand beside her. "Are they..."

Benson nodded. "Dr. Gorma is about to take him into surgery as we speak."

Allura met his gaze then turned as she walked toward the doors that led toward the operating rooms within the infirmary. She tore off the bandages she wore as she surprised the nurses along the way.

"Allura!" Lance called as he caught up to her. "Are you insane?"

"Dr. Gorma is going to need help," she said as she barged into a room filled with lockers and opened up one of them. "I've sat in on several operations already, I can help him."

"Allura stop it," Lance said as he grabbed her by her shoulders. "You have to let Gorma do what he needs to do."

"Let me go Lance," she stated. "I know what Im doing."

Lance looked at her, seeing the pain behind her sapphire eyes. At that moment, he really did believe her.

"Lance!" he looked up as Benson stopped at the door to the locker room. "Coran is calling for the remaining members of both teams to come to the Control Room."

Lance nodded as he to turned Allura. "If Dr. Gorma says that you're in the way, you get your ass out of that room, you hear me?"

Allura nodded. "Go on Lance," she stated. "If Coran is following protocol, he will have handed the Black Lion key to Commander Fox. He is going to need all the help he can get."

Lance understood her request. With that he made his way out of the locker room as Benson followed after him. She then turned to the locker before her as she pulled out the surgical gown and slowly put them on.

* * *

Dr. Gorma looked up at the digital screens before him as the nurses around him set up the tools he needed to start the operation. He then looked up as the door to the operating room opened again, and was nearly surprised to see the princess join them, dressed up in the spare nurses surgical uniforms that were in the infirmary. Without a word, he slowly nodded as he motioned for her to join him at his side.

"Right now, we will bring him out of the induced sleep we put him in," he started. He then looked at the nurses that stood around the bed that they had prepared, with the Commander lying face down on it. "You will see a slight jump in his vitals, but that is to be expected. Allura, I need you to keep his mind of the pain. He will be lucid, but don't be surprised if he asks questions over and over again, or slurs his speech. Julia and Diana will monitor the rest of his vitals. If they signal you that he is losing consciousness, you will have to do your best to keep him awake."

"I understand, Alan," Allura stated.

"If at any time, the pain is too much for him to handle, we will stop before we move on," he continued. "Heart rate must remain lower than 180 beats per minute, otherwise he will suffer a cardiac arrest. Keep on reporting any change in vitals, and we can get through this."

The nurses nodded and Gorma turned to Allura. "Do not be surprised by what you see," he warned her. "If you are not able to handle it, please let me know and you can leave the room."

"Its alright, Alan," Allura stated. "I've helped to set broken bones in casts and burn victims deal with their injuries."

Gorma nodded as he grabbed ahold of the sheet that covered Keith. "We'll work in sections," Gorma instructed. "Slowly."

Allura nodded and watched as he pulled the sheet away. She had to blink twice after seeing damage that the explosion had caused.

"I'm going to wake him now," Gorma stated. "Allura, it's time."

She slowly nodded. She then walked to the head of the bed as she knelt down, settling herself just under the part of the bed that positioned his head. As she peered into his face, she noticed a slight discoloration just on his right side, and a few scratches. She breathed in deeply realizing that he probably protected his head while he was protecting Madison from the force of the explosion.

Soon she watched as his eyes struggled to open seeing that he was struggling to focus on her.

"Keith, can you hear me?" she asked.

He blinked his eyes as he focused on her.

"Commander, this is Dr. Gorma," Alan's voice came above him. "We are about to perform an operation to remove the glass shards that you were hit with. We've only administered a local anesthetic, to take care of some of the pain, but it will not counter all of it. I cannot have you moving as some of the shards have penetrated deep enough to endanger some of your vital nerves and vessels. If at any time you cannot stand the pain, please let Allura know."

Allura looked at him. "If you don't want to speak, blink twice for yes, once for no," she stated. "You'll have to remain awake through this part of the operation. Gorma will then put you under anesthesia once he's removed all the glass he can get to."

He blinked twice to signal that he understood.

"Okay, we are starting," Gorma stated. "Julia, I'll start with Forceps 3."

Allura looked up to Gorma as he started on the upper portion of his back. She then looked to Keith meeting his gaze. "Talk to me if you have to," she said. "It'll be the only way to keep your mind off the pain."

Allura breathed in deeply as he then let out a scream as Gorma removed one of the shards he was working on, and dropped it into a metal bowl that he had set up. The clang of the glass hitting the metal sounded deep and heavy, meaning the shard was actually a large piece.

"Im so sorry," Allura whispered as she watched as tears edged at his eyes. "Im so very sorry..."

And again the room filled with his screams.

* * *

General Tarris navigated his ship to meet up with the main forces of Lotor's fleet as they hid behind one of the many moons of Pollux. Thousands of robo ships surrounded Lotor's main battle cruiser, dwarfing the ship that Tarris was in charge of. He radioed the large Doom ship and a landing bay door opened as he directed his ship to land within. Once aboard, Tarris and his personal entourage disembarked from the ship to meet up with Lotor's guards, of whom escorted him to where the young Prince waited for them.

"Prince Lotor," Tarris stated as he greeted the Prince. "The Castle of Lions has been damaged, and I've weakened the members of both Voltron Force teams. They are now without their commander, and his backup has yet to even fly in the main lion ship. This will be a good time as any to commence an attack while they are weak."

Lotor slowly nodded. "And what of the Princess?"

"She is unharmed," Tarris related. "And if you attack now, you may be able to have her by the end of the day."

Lotor smiled as he approached the General. "You have surely lived up to everything they have said about you, General," he stated. "We will commence our attack on Arus, within the hour," he stated. "Will you be joining us in the attack?"

"I will watch from afar, my Prince," he stated. "If you need me and my forces to join you, just call upon us."

Lotor nodded. "We will do so," Lotor stated. "And General."

"Yes, my Prince?"

"Good work. My father will indeed be pleased."

* * *

Allura had stopped counting the pings and clangs of the glass as Gorma dropped them into the metal bowl. She had hit over 80 in count when she realized that Gorma was still working on the same section he had started on only 2 hours earlier. All through that time, Keith had stopped screaming and resorted to whimpers as Gorma worked each wound to remove the glass shards. It was only and hour into the procedure that Allura noticed that his bottom lip was trembling, and now she could see that his whole head was shaking. She looked up to Gorma giving him a signal to stop at that moment.

"You have to stop shaking," she warned him. "Talk to me Keith, ask me anything. Ask me about Madison."

At the mention of her name, she could see that he was paying attention to her. She then signaled Gorma to start again.

"Madison is alright," Allura stated. "She is suffering from smoke inhalation, but she is fine. She's learned a few more curse words since she's hooked up to a respirator. She and Eysia will have to remain in the infirmary for a few days so they can heal."

Another ping filled the room as Gorma pulled another shard. He looked down at Allura to say that what she was doing was helping.

"...L...lance...?" came his whispered question.

Allura nodded. "He and I suffered perforated ear drums, as we were right at the bottom of the stairs when the explosives went off," she said. "Nothing a few weeks of healing cannot cure. Lance has it worst, he can't hear out of his left ear at the moment, but Gorma said that if he takes it easy, it will heal up fine, and he'll regain his hearing."

"Dylan..." She then looked up at him. "Dylan has a slight bump. But out of all of us, he is the best off."

She then met his gaze to guage her next statement. "Coran has given him the key to Black Lion," she stated.

"He.............he's not ....ready," he choked out. "Black...black...will not accept him."

Allura nodded. "Coran is asking us to ramp up and focus on his training," she stated. "With both teams with members out of commission, we are going to need everyone from both teams to work together. Lance and I could fly Black, but Madison is out of commission to take my place in Blue, and Jian is not ready for Red. Our only hope is to get Dylan trained to fly Black."

"..do.....do you b....believe?"

Allura thought for a moment, then nodded. "I believe that Dylan is capable," she said. "He just has to realize that he is."

* * *

Dylan breathed in deeply as he stood before the raised chutes, staring at the numbered doorways that would lead him to the Lion Ships. He came to stand at the door that was numbered 1, lit up in yellow as he held his helmet in his arms.

"Scary feeling isn't it, Commander?"

The young man turned to Lance as he came to stand next to him.

"Don't feel bad if the Lion rejects you," he said. "Out of all the lions, I can't for the life of me pilot Yellow lion. Start her up, but damn if she'd let me fly her. I know it sounds weird, but the late King wanted to be sure that whoever was chosen as pilots for his creation, they were in tune with those big metal cats."

Lance turned to him. "If you think that Black won't respond, just talk to her."

Dylan looked at him with a confused expression, but the Lieutenant was already heading toward his chute to take his ride down to Red. With one last deep breath, Dylan put on his helmet and came to stand before the chute. With a small prayer, he lept and grabbed the bar with both hands and rode it down. Suddenly, he felt as if the weight of the entire planet rested on if he could even do what he came here to do.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Hearts of Courage  
Arus  
arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com

Relative disclaimers apply. Authors Note: Since it's been a while since I updated this story, this will be an extra long chapter. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

Dylan watched as the control panel came into view as his chair came up and locked into place. The cockpit of the lion was silent, no hum of the engines to drown out the sudden feeling of being alone. He looked down at the key he held, studying the design of King Alfor's crest that was there. He let his gloved hand run over the raised edges of the design, tracing the cross with his thumb as he stared at it.

He then raised his hand as he inserted the key into the panel, however nothing happened. The key had remained in its original form, doing nothing to activate the lion ship. Dylan then felt defeated. He leaned forward against the control panel before him as he closed his eyes, going over every training program he had to endure to get here. The silence around him was deafening, but, as he lost himself in his thoughts, even the noise of the silence seemed to stop. He gasped as he sat up in his seat, finding the the air within the cockpit seemed to have stilled.

'_If you think that Black won't respond, just talk to her._' Lance's statement echoed.

Taking a hard gulp, he looked up at the blank view screen before him. What was he supposed to say? How do you talk to a machine? He cleared his throat, to try and find his voice.

"I...I know you can sense me," he started, barely a whisper. He nearly felt afraid about what he was doing, about what he was admitting himself to believe. "I...I know that you know what has happened," he said a little louder. Feeling a little more confident he then spoke a little louder. "I'm not here to replace Commander Takashi, but you should know that he has been severly injured. It will be a long while till they feel he will be able to return to active duty. Arus...Arus can't afford to be unprotected during this time.

"My own team members were also hurt," he continued. "We've been here, barely for 72 hours, and I've seen more in these short days, than most have seen in all of their life. I...I was wrong to assume that my role here would be to replace anyone...I know that now..."

He then stared down at the control panel before him. "I only ask, that we trust each other," he said. "I have to prove to myself that I am capable of being part of this team. And I need your help now. Allow me to help defend Arus and protect its people. I know that I am ready to do that."

The silence around him remained as he stared up at the view screen. Closing his eyes, he leaned back into his chair. It was at that time, he noticed the slight hum and as he opened his eyes, he watched as the key, slowly transformed and the systems before him started up. He leaned forward as he breathed in deeply, looking around him as he did so.

"Thank you."

* * *

Lance hovered in the air as he looked down upon the Black Lion as it rested on the Lion Monument before the Castle of Lions. He breathed in deeply noticing that it had been 20 minutes since Dylan entered the Lion.

"Any response from the Lion?" Lance asked Coran over his com unit.

**Nothing,** came his reply. **If the Lion hasn't responded to him by now, I don't think it ever will.**

Lance breathed in deeply as he looked at his view screen. Still the Black Lion did not move.

"Coran, we tried," Lance stated. "Initiate the reverse sequence for Black Lion's chair. We'll have to..."

**Wait, Lieutenant,** Coran's reply came over the comm. **Detecting the start up sequence for Black Lion.**

"My my," Lance said as he watched as the Black Lion slowly dip its head, then stretch to let out a resounding roar. "The kid actually did it."

* * *

"Sir, we'll be in Arus' airspace in 10 minutes."

Lotor smiled as Tarris joined him by his side. "Their Castle is weakest from the North," Tarris stated. "It may be wise to concentrate your attack there and draw their attention to the south. With several of the members from both of the Voltron Teams out of commission, they'll be hard pressed to defend against attacks coming from two different directions."

Lotor nodded. "I must admit, General, you have succeeded where many have failed," the prince stated. "If we are successful today, I will be sure to see that you are greatly rewarded."

"Reward is not what I am after, my Prince," he stated. "If you need any assistance from my forces, don't hesitate to inform me. I'll be aboard my ship in the mean time."

Lotor nodded as he watched the General leave. He then turned slightly as Haggar's familiar form emerged from the dark shadows within the main command center of the ship. She slowly approached him, coming to stand at his side.

"I trust that you were able to get the information you needed?" Lotor asked of her.

"Tarris' infiltration into the Castle of Lions, not only benefited you, my Prince," she stated. "He did provide enough distraction for me to access their databanks."

Lotor nodded. "Found anything interesting?"

The old witch laughed to herself. "More than just interesting, my Prince," she said as she pulled out a small disc from within her robes.

Lotor smiled to himself as he stared at the disc she held. "Then we'll have to see what that information holds."

* * *

Dylan let out a grunt as Lance's missiles impacted against the side of Black Lion, sending the ship into a spinning dive. Angrily, he pulled off the gloves he wore as he gripped the controls and pulled on them with all of his strength, so that he could regain control of the lion. The action helped him to avoid crashing into the ground, however, he clipped the side of the cliff face near, which caused the lion, to spin uncontrollably as it crashed into the ground. The lion then came to rest on its side as Dylan yelled out in frustration.

**Are you alright, Commander?** Lance's voice came over the comm system. His image then appeared on the view screen before him.

"No worst than an hour ago," Dylan stated. "This lion is like trying to maneuver a bus."

Lance chuckled. **The Lion may not be cooperating with you fully, Commander,** he suggested. **You have to show that you are capable of handling it without the assitance of the onboard computers. They can be very fickle.**

"Its so odd to hear anyone refer to these ships as if they are alive, Lieutenant," Dylan stated. "Something I have to get used to, I guess."

**Trust me, Commander, when we came to realize that there were more to the Lions than we first thought, we were also surprised,** Lance stated. **The Lions chose us as their pilots for a very good reason. You have to make Black understand that you are the right choice.**

Dylan slowly nodded as he gripped the controls again, and righted the lion back onto its legs. "Let's do this again," Dylan stated. "Same maneuvers. But give me a moment."

Lance nodded and his image disappeared from the view screen before him. He then breathed in deeply as he reached up and took off the helmet he wore. Breathing in deeply, he threw the helmet toward the back of the ship he leaned forward in the chair and closed his eyes, resting his head against the control panel before him.

He took the moment to think back about his journey here, as he remembered back to Madison's question from the day before. Why he was chosen as the leader of the Beta Team...

"I bet you're wondering the same thing, hmm?" Dylan asked, to no one in particular, but hoped that it was the Lion that was listening. "They all say that you choose your pilots, yet you chose Commander Takashi. Like you, he is the strongest member of his team, but it's his history that has made him the man he is today. Know this, I know what it is like to lose those you love. I was only 3 when I lost my parents, and then juggled in foster care until I could be accepted into the Academy. It was later that I learned, that my parents were part of the mission in which the Commander lost his entire family as well. He and I are not that unalike. We know heartbreak and the hardships. I...know how much it hurts to see those you love suffer. And I vowed that I would work hard to see that no family ever has to go through what I've gone through. To lose the people they love is a punishment no one deserves and something I would never wish upon my enemies. I promise to devote every fiber of my being to protect Arus and it's people, even if it means that I have to give up my life to do so. Understand this, you and I will have to work together to accomplish that goal. You need me as much as you need Commander Takashi, if we want to keep Arus safe."

A silence fell on him in the cockpit as he looked down at the controls before him. "Now, let's prove that we are capable of fullfilling that job."

He pulled on the controls and launched the Lion into the air. He piloted the Lion toward where Red Lion was waiting above, but as he joined the lion ship, he saw a weird grey object streak toward the unsuspecting pilot.

"Lance! Look out!" Dylan pulled on his controls as he pulled Black Lion in front of the oncoming missile, firing a volley of stingray missiles to blow it out of the sky. The explosion caused both lions to loose control, and both pilots were sent careening toward the ground below.

* * *

"Lt. Hale, I have to ask that you remain in this infirmary until Dr. Gorma gives a full assessment of your injuries."

Madison eyed the nurse next to her as she tried to pull off the respirator mask she wore.

"I said that I feel fine!" she nearly yelled, which caused her to start a fit of coughing.

"Madison, just stay calm," Pidge stated as he approached the side of her bed. "Dr. Gorma is in surgery right now, so you need to be patient."

"Surgery?" Madison asked as she sat up, breathing hard through the respirator mask that covered her nose and mouth. "Oh my, is it Commander Takashi?"

Pidge slowly nodded. "They've been in there for nearly 3 1/2 hours."

Madison let out a grunt as she laid back against the bed she was in. "God, I shouldn't have been so stupid," she muttered.

Pidge could only stare at her as she muttered to herself about getting electrocuted by the window panel in the observation room. It was at that moment that he noticed that her the finger tips of her left hand was covered in blood. Pidge stated as reached out and grabbed Madison's hand. "How did this happen?"

Madison looked at her fingers and smiled. "I scratched the bastard at least," she said. "I would have bit him if his hand was close enough."

"What?" Pidge asked. "Nikki, could you grab me a cotton swab and a small container?"

The nurse that was in the room looked at him, but quickly grabbed the supplies he asked for.

"Pidge, its just a few fingernails," Madison stated. "I can live without them for a while."

"No, Madison," Pidge stated as he looked at her fingers. "Its not what happened to your hand. Its what you were able to get off of him that I want."

Madison watched as Pidge spread her fingers and used the end of the swab to dig under her nails. Then with the swab, he wiped off the small amount of blood that were present on her nails.

"What are you going to do?"

"Test out a theory," he said.

At that moment, the Castle's alarms started sounding which caused both Pidge and Madison to look up.

"Damn, figures that they would try something now," she muttered.

Pidge quickly placed the swab that he had into the small container and handed it to the nurse. "Nikki, when Dr. Gorma is done, have him take the samples on those swabs and get a solution made from it. I'll need to test the results."

The nurse slowly nodded as Pidge then turned to Madison. "Hate to break protocol, but looks like we're needed."

Madison's expression only brightened, but then she looked over to the other bed where Eysia was sleeping. "Want to help me get the big lug up?"

* * *

Allura looked up as the Castle's alarms sounded, then it was followed by a resounding beep on the operating room's communications system.

**Princess, Lotor's forces have been detected and are attacking a nearby village,** Coran's voice came over the system. **Two robeasts have been sighted, one to the North and one to the South. We need you.**

Allura looked to Dr. Gorma wondering how far along he was.

"Go..."

Allura turned to Keith as she met his gaze. "You're needed." he choked out. "Dylan...Dylan will need the help."

Allura nodded as she leaned up to him and kissed him on his forehead. She then stood as Dr. Gorma nodded to her. "We are ready to start the next part of the procedure," he told her. "From here on out, he'll be under anesthesia."

Allura nodded. "I know that you can do this, Alan," she said. "I know he is in good hands."

She rushed out of the infirmary quickly, making her way toward the Control room where Coran, Benson and Jeryn were assessing the oncoming forces of Prince Lotor. Coran met her gaze as she joined them, evaluating what she was seeing on the screen before her.

"How is the Commander?" Coran was quick to ask.

"Dr. Gorma is starting on the operation to repair the damaged muscle and tissue," Allura stated. "Nearly 300 shards of glass were removed, and Gorma believes that during the operation, he will be able to extract those that penetrated deeper."

Coran nodded. "Two attack forces, both backed by a robeast of their own," Coran started his report. "Jeryn, bring up the attacking force to the South."

Jeryn nodded, and Allura had to smile to herself seeing that the displaced Prince had quickly worked his way and had become familiar with the many systems in the Control Room. "It's a larger force than the one from the North," Jeryn reported. "They know that we are several members down from both teams, and are taking advantage of that."

Allura nodded. "They're using the larger force South to distract us," Allura stated. "Tarris chose the North Observation room for a reason. He knew that our defenses on that side of the Castle would be severly weakened if he took out that floor and the floors below."

Coran nodded. "And we also have a problem."

Allura turned to him. "What is it?"

"Lance took Dylan out to practice an hour ago, and we haven't heard back from them since," he reported. "I have Hunk out scouting for them right now, but we can't afford to leave the Castle undefended."

"Who on the Beta Team are capable of combat?" Allura asked.

"That would be all of us, Princess."

Allura turned as Dylan's team entered the control Room, Madison was sporting a slight limp in her left leg.

"Madison, Eysia, you shouldn't be off the respirators," Coran stated.

"As I see it, Coran, we are no help in the infirmary, and no help to anyone if we can't get up there to defend this Castle," Madison stated. "Besides, our leader is out there right now. He needs us."

Allura nodded. "Coran, get the Beta Team up in the fighters and have the rest of the Arus guards join them," she stated. "Concentrate most of the fighters toward our North. Pidge and I'll join Hunk in locating Lance and Dylan, and we'll confront the larger force to the South first."

"Understood," Coran stated. "Last known location of the Red and Black Lions was 1000 clicks North East of the lake. I'm sure that Lance would have taken Dylan on the Aegis Canyon run."

Allura nodded. "Radio Hunk let him know to meet just before the canyon."

* * *

Dylan woke with a gasp as he struggled in the harness that strapped him into the seat of the Black Lion. He quickly looked around, seeing the cabin was illuminated in the red emergency lights and the view screen before him flickered with a static image. He shook his head as he leaned forward, pressing a button on the console before him to activate the emergency start up system to get the Lion to move.

**Dylan!**

The shout came over his communications as the lion's system came alive again. "Lance," Dylan stated. "Are you alright?"

**Fine and dandy,** Lance's reply came. **Was that a missile that hit us?**

Dylan nodded. "Yes," he stated. "Came from the North. How is your Lion?"

**We've been through worst,** Lance stated. **Comm check with the Castle, we have to let them know of where we are.**

"Can your Lion fly?"

**Controls are a little sluggish, and half my viewscreen is out,** Lance reported.

Dylan nodded as he launched the Black Lion into the air, to meet Lance. Over the horizon, they could see 3 colored streaks race across the sky toward them. "Seems that the team has found us already," Dylan stated.

* * *

Jeryn stared at the view screen before him as the Voltron Lions raced toward the South, to confront the larger force of incoming Doom forces. It brought back memories of the time that Akian's forces attacked his home planet. A two prong attack against the main forces, all wiped out in less than day of battle. This was a definite attack plan that General Tarris had used often.

His gaze then slowly dropped to his arm. The arm that held a secret weapon that Tarris had sought for years. Hiding it away as he slowly hunted down every single one of his people until it was found. Though as he stared at his arm, he then thought to the weapon again. A sudden realization came to him.

"Coran, is it possible to have Hunk, Pidge and Reiji return to the castle?"

Coran turned to the young prince, a little concerned that he was asking to pull 2 of the Voltron Force Lions from battle. "What is it?"

"I want to test something on one of the Lion ships and I'll need all their help to do so."

"We can't keep them away for too long, my prince," Coran stated.

"Yes, I know," he said. "Have them meet me in Repair Bay 6."

Coran nodded, then watched as he quickly stood and ran toward the door to the Control Room. He then took the seat he vacated and immediately radioed for Hunk, Pidge and Reiji.

* * *

Dylan gritted his teeth as he an Lance raced toward the battle ground, pushing Black Lion as much as he could. As they flew over a mountain ridge, he and Lance pulled their lion ships to a halt as they witnessed the attacking forces to the North and South of the Castle of Lions.

"Two robeasts," Dylan stated as he watched as Blue, Green and Yellow Lions joined them. "They aren't kidding around are they?"

**Welcome to your first taste of battle by the likes of Doom's forces, Commander,** Allura stated as she eyed up Black Lion. **Seems that you got a good introduction.**

Dylan nodded. "Princess, how is...,"

**Commander, concentrate on what we have before us,** Allura stated as she brought her lion before Black. **What are we up against?**

"Two sets of forces," Dylan stated as he read the feed coming from the Castle of Lions. "Two robeasts, along with their own Doom Fighters to protect it. Head on attack may not be possible unless we take out the fighters."

**A moment Commander. Coran is asking that we return to the Lieutenant and I return to the Castle,** Hunk radioed over his com. **You will have to buy us some time.**

Dylan watched as his view screen flickered, showing him the battles raging before him. "Hunk, be quick and see what they need," Dylan stated. "Lance, I'm sorry to ask this of you..."

**Commander, all due respect, you are the one in command here,** Lance came through. **Out here, whoever pilots Black, is the one who has to be in control. Black needs to know that if you are the one that should be in that pilot's seat.**

Dylan nodded to himself and looked down at his controls. Looking back up at his view screen he grabbed his controls tightly. "Hunk, take Pidge back with you to the Castle and see what Coran has in mind," he stated. "Lance and Allura, we'll have to split up to create a distraction. The village to the South is the one that is in most danger so get there quick. Lure the robeast away, and I'll try to get the 2nd one to follow me. If we can coordinate and stall the attacks, maybe it will give us enough time."

**Aye, aye Commander,** Hunk's reply came over the com. **Take care of Black, I can already see that I'm going to spend most of this afternoon fixin' her up.**

"I'll be sure to avoid flying missiles."

Dylan watched as Yellow and Green Lions fly toward the Castle. With one look toward Lance in Red and Allura in Blue, the lions separated, heading toward their destinations.

* * *

Jeryn breathed in deeply as he watched as the Lion ships land in the docking bay. He quickly ran over to Hunk as he jumped out of his Lion, Reiji had just entered the docking bay and joined them.

"Hunk, I need you to take a look over these schematics," Jeryn said as he unfolded a large piece of paper, and holding the small device that he had shown the Voltron Force earlier.

Hunk grabbed the paper for the former prince and looked it over quickly. Pidge watched as his long time friend scrutinized the schematics and the looked up at Jeryn as if the Prince was insane.

"You can't be serious," the large man nearly exclaimed. "What you're proposing could rip the lions to shreds! They weren't made to handle this kind of power output."

"Hunk what is it," Pidge asked as he came over and looked at the paper he had. "Reiji, come."

The younger member of the Beta joined them and smiled as he looked over the plans. "Hunk, we could add a power coupling to regulate the power output easily," he stated. "Do we have a free Alliance fighter that we can use?"

Pidge smiled as he pushed the glasses he wore, up further on his nose. "Reiji, you're a genius!" he yelled. He then turned to his large friend. "Hunk, this will have to work in your Lion for now. Blue and Green wouldn't be able to handle it, but yours and Black should. Unfortunately, we don't have much time. Get Yellow up in the clamps and we'll get the needed parts."

Hunk nodded then turned to Jeryn. "You and I will have to sit down and actually go through the schematics of this device, Jeryn," he stated. "There maybe other uses for it that we could never have dreamed of."

Jeryn slowly nodded. "Which is why I needed to keep it out of Drule hands," he stated. "The applications could have brought the Alliance to their knees."

"Know that its in good hands now."

* * *

Dylan yelled out in pain as a Doom Fighter launched several missiles, hitting Black on the starboard side. He pulled on his controls as the fighter gave chase, and headed toward a mesa. Pushing Black as much as he could, he dived toward the cliff side and pulled up as the Doom Fighter behind crashed in to it. Dylan let out his breath as he brought Black to hover over the mesa as he turned it toward the robeast as it continued its attack on the village.

Swearing to himself, he pulled off his gloves and removed his helmet, feeling as if they very things that would protect him, was suffocating him instead. It had been nearly two hours since the attack started. Since he sent the rest of his team back to the Castle to do heaven's know what. The longer this battle was being drawn out, the more frustrated he became.

"Are all battles like this?" he asked himself. He then looked at his viewscreen as the broken half continued to flicker. "Then again, what can I expect from being thrust into my first battle with half my team gone?"

He then watched as the robeast roared as it destroyed one of the tallest structures in the village that was being attacked. Breathing in deeply, he continued to study the large monster as it turned, swiping one of its large taloned arms as it destroyed another. It then took three steps and repeated the action.

Dylan then breathed in, as he watched the monster as it just circled around, repeating over and over again the same attack pattern.

"Wait a minute..."

He quickly pressed a button and switched over the viewscreen to a scan mode. He watched as the computer scanned the battle scene before him taking read outs of the rest of the Doom Fighters as well as the robeast in front of him. Once done, the computer came with a read out before him.

"Son of a ..." He quickly grabbed his controls pushed his lion forward, racing toward the village under attack by the robeast.

"Form Ion Knife!"

Dylan quickly sped through the line of Doom Fighters surrounding the robeast and just as he approached the monster, he dove his lion toward its feet and pulled quickly up on his controls as the Ion Knife sliced through the large monster. The robeast roared as Black cut through the monster and as Dylan pulled his ship around, the robeast reared back before it froze and then was followed by a large explosion.

Dylan yelled out in frustration as he watched as the Doom Fighters followed suit, exploding all around him as well.

"It was a freaking decoy!" he yelled as he pulled his lion up and turned to head toward the South to the robeast, where Lance was confronting that one on his own.

He rounded the last mountain ridge and saw that Lance and Allura were able to the lure the robeast away from the village, but was taking a beating himself. He pushed on his controls to attack the robeast from behind before joining them.

**About time you got here,** Lance said a little breathless, but Dylan could here a little humor in his voice. **This one is one mean son of a bitch.**

Dylan nodded. "Taris played us like fools," Dylan stated. "He has been one step ahead of us this whole time. The robeast to the North was nothing but a decoy."

**What?** Allura asked. **A decoy?**

"The damn thing was just a dud, it had no real firepower. Just an empty shell controlled by a simple computer, didn't even have a lazon power source," Dylan stated. "The Doom fighters along with it were all decoys. He wanted to separate us."

**Well then, is this one a dud, or is it the real thing?**

"Scanned it just as I came in," Dylan stated. "This one is the real deal. Black's reading came back with a large lazon power source, but its protected under 50 cm of thick armoring. None of our normal weapons can penetrate it in order to destroy it."

**Have you heard back from Hunk yet?**

"Not a peep," Dylan stated. "But we're going to need all the lions if we plan on taking this puppy out."

* * *

Hunk breathed in deeply as Jeryn handed him the small cylindrical device as Reiji looked on. "We won't have time to test this, and last word from Lance is that the first robeast has been destroyed, but they are having a hell of a time taking out the second one."

Hunk nodded as he placed the cylinder into it's makeshift place holder. He then breathed in deeply as the red light on the device took some time before it turned green. He then looked up at Yellow to see if there were any outward changes, but let out his breath when nothing happened.

"The system should be activated when you activate one of your weapons," Jeryn stated. "Since the lions are also powered by Lazon, you should notice a variance in the output of power that they will posses. Hopefully, the output will not be so much as to fry your on board systems."

Hunk nodded. "I'll be sure to take it easy at first," Hunk stated. "What do you think will happen if we form Voltron?"

Jeryn pursed his lips together and slowly shook his head. "I don't know, Hunk," he stated. "As I understand, when the lions form Voltron, your power systems combine together. I don't know what will happen then."

Hunk looked to Reiji and Pidge. "Well then, nothing like a real world test," he said. "Besides we have friends out there that need our help. We can't let them hog all of the fun."

Pidge nodded as he turned to both Reiji and Jeryn. "If any thing happens, be sure to have the Alliance Fighters on the ready," he stated.

Reiji watched as Pidge ran to Green and then watched as both Lions launched from the docking bay.

"Tell me that I haven't sent them to their deaths, lieutenant," Jeryn stated as he turned to the young boy standing next to him. "Tell me that what I've done won't end up destroying them instead."

Reiji turned to Jeryn as he looked at the Alliance Fighter that he piloted. "We all have to make sacrifices, your highness," he stated. "Even now, when we all think that we have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and have to depend on others to help us, we can not let our fears over come us. We have to fight back. We have to find a way to make it worth our sacrifices.

"You lost an entire planet based on the sacrifices you've made," Reiji said as he turned to him. "Yet you keep on fighting. And for anyone to keep on going even after facing such loss, we know that the perseverance you've shown can only be honored by those who believe in you."

"Lieutenant..."

Reiji smiled. "We are all not what we seem to be at times," he said as he put on his helmet. "I may be young to many, and in their eyes, maybe too young to be doing what I'm doing. I chose to do this, because this is what I wanted to do. And sometimes, that is all that is needed."

Jeryn nodded as Reiji looked at him. "I want to protect the dreams of those who are unable to do so," he said. "That is my dream."

With a nod, the young boy then jumped over the railing from where they were standing and headed toward the Alliance Fighter.

"Thank you."

* * *

**Dylan, look out!**

Allura flew her lion just as the robeast swung its large taloned arm to strike out toward the Black Lion. She grabbed onto the arm just as Dylan flew Black lion away from the robeast. The monster roared in pain as Allura closed Blue Lion's jaw on the large arm. It reacted violently, as it shook its arm to rid itself of the Lion firmly attached.

**Allura, watch out!** Lance yelled through his com. He then brought his lion forward as the monster reared its arm back again, to rid itself of the lion firmly attached to it. Just as it brought its arm forward, Blue Lion lost its grip and was flung toward Red Lion. Lance quickly reacted, catching the princess just before she lost complete control of her lion. **Damnit, we need the others.**

**Your wish is our command, Lance,** Hunk's voice came over the com. **Hope you guys didn't steal all of the fun!**

"Lieutenant," Dylan stated. "What was going on while we were dancing with this fine monster?"

**A few upgrades, Commander,** Hunk stated. **Now, if you folks wouldn't mind just moving out of the way a bit, I'm coming through!**

Dylan watched as Pidge joined him in Green Lion as Lance and Allura parted ways as Hunk brought Yellow Lion around.

**Pidge, keep tabs on my power output,** Hunk stated.

**Keeping a scan on you,** Pidge stated. **Let me know when you are ready.**

"What are you guys planning to do?" Dylan asked.

**Test out a theory,** Hunk stated. **Unfortunately the new upgrades have to be tested in battle, since we didn't have time to monitor, Pidge has to be my backup.**

"Backup? What do you mean backup?"

**In case this all goes to hell in a hand basket,** Hunk stated. **So what is the read out on that thing?**

"15 inch thick armor, so far its immune to most of our weapons," Dylan stated. "Lazon Power source is in its abdomen, but the armor is thicker there. We can't penetrate it with what we have."

**Understood,** Hunk stated. **Abdomen you say?**

"Yes,"

**Pidge?**

**Ready.**

Dylan watched as Hunk readied the ion cannon that the Yellow Lion was known for. He then watched as the robeast turned to face all of them, letting out a loud roar as it started for them.

**Hunk, whatever you have planned, do it fast!** Lance stated through the comm.

Hunk nodded and looked at this viewscreen. **Firing Ion Cannon.**

Dylan watched as Yellow Lion's cannon fired, but the power from the cannon itself seemed, magnified. The blast from the Cannon hit the robeast square on, as targeted by the pilot. It didn't seem to affect the robeast, but a definite reaction was happening.

**Hunk, ease off,** Pidge came over the comm. **Your power has dwindled down to sixty percent.**

**Easing off,** Hunk's reply came.

Dylan watched as the robeast still stood, but this time he noticed slight damage on the armoring. He did a quick scan of the monster and fed the information to the Green Lion pilot.

**My lord, it worked!** Hunk stated.

**Celebration over guys, I think we really pissed that thing off!** Lance yelled.

The robeast roared one last time before it started its charge against the five lion ships.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Dylan yelled as the robeast neared, followed by the Doom Fighter ships that came to its aid.

Dylan pulled hard on his controls as three Doom Fighters followed after him. He watched his viewscreen to keep track of the rest of the lions and saw they were being attacked by the Fighter ships as well, while avoidng any near distances against the robeast monster. He quickly pulled his lion around to attack the fighters head on, dispatching two of them as the last one chased him toward the robeast.

The monster noticed his incoming ship and reared its large arm. Dylan watched as it reacted to his approach and counted silently to himself. Timing. Several more Doom Fighters joined the one that was currently chasing the one after him.

**Dylan, what the heck are you doing?**

Dylan didn't bother answering Lance as he continued his approach to the robeast. Watching closely the robeast's reactions, Dylan prayed that his plan would work. As he neared the robeast, the monster reacted as Dylan had hoped and in the last moment, he pulled on Black's controls just as the robeast brought its lumbering arm down, missing his lion ship and taking out the fighters that were following him. He then pushed on his controls and sped away from the lumbering monster as he helped his teammates take out the fighters they were battling.

"Hunk, that cannon, what did you use to augment the power to it?" Dylan asked as he shot down another one of the Doom Fighters.

**That device Prince Jeryn brought with him,** Hunk quickly answered as Yellow turned toward his lion ship.

**Jeryn?** Allura's voice came over the comm. **The Lazon weapon?**

**Yup,** Hunk answered. **We had to do some modifications, but with Pidge's and Reiji's help, we were able to control the power output. But as you can see it'll drain the lazon power reserves that each Lion's hold. I'm already down to fifty percent. If this battle lasts any longer, I won't have enough power to even form Voltron.**

Dylan slowly nodded as he spied the robeast. "Then that is what we will have to do," he stated.

**Dylan, you're not ready,** Lance stated.

"We will not be able to take down that robeast like this," Dylan stated. "If Jeryn's weapon can augment Yellow's cannons, then let's see what it can do with Voltron's."

**Dylan, we don't know what it will do,** Hunk stated. **The power alone could fry all of our sytems.**

"We won't know until we try," Dylan stated. "We took our gamble, and right now, we need to take out this robeast before it does more destruction."

**I'll monitor our energy levels when we are formed,** Pidge stated. **If we get below fifteen percent, we will not be able to hold Voltron together.**

"Understood," Dylan stated.

Dylan looked at his viewscreen one last time and breathed in deeply. "Ready to form Voltron."

* * *

Tarris watched as the battle waged, the lion ships taking hits against the robeast monster. Smiled when Yellow lion appeared and take it's own shot at the large monster.

"As you expected, General," Haggar appeared from behind him. "They've been able to use that weapon that you were looking for."

Tarris nodded. "Just what I wanted," he stated. "Haggar, I am very impressed with our monstrous creations. I apologize that we have to sacrifice two of your strongest to lure out this great weapon, but now we have proof that it exists."

"Such a weapon in our hands General, would make all of my creations...all of Doom's forces strong enough to wipe out the existence of the Alliance in this galaxy."

Tarris slowly nodded. "Now that we know they have it, we will now have to retrieve it from them," he stated. He then turned to the witch and smiled. "I only want what's best for the Drule Supremacy, Haggar. You need not sneak around me to get what you want."

"General..."

"Your robeast shall be destroyed by Voltron," Tarris simply stated as he started to walk away from the command center and past her. "With the knowledge of this weapon in their possession, we need to come up with a better and strong adversary for their defender. And, once we have their weapon in our possession, use it against them."

"I understand, General," Haggar stated as she turned to him.

"And Haggar," Tarris stated as he turned back to her. "Illandra has had my best interest for many years, but she has kept many dark secrets from me. I do trust her with my life, but if she has an ulterior plan, I want to know about it."

"Any means possible General?"

Tarris slowly nodded. "You can start with finding out something for me," he said as he entered a nearby lift. "A name, I've come across repeatedly, and I want to know who this person is."

"What name is that, General?"

"Takashi," he stated. "Keitaro Takashi"

Haggar looked at him darkly. "The Voltron Commander's brother?" she questioned.

"Brother?" he asked. He slowly nodded. "Send me whatever information you have, Haggar."

"I will General."

The doors to the lift slid close and Haggar continued to stare at them.

* * *

Dylan gritted his teeth as the robeast charged toward them. He pulled on his controls and brought Voltron around to dodge the attack, but as slow as the monster seemed, it lunged out with a backward strike, sending Voltron off balance. The robeast quickly turned around and grabbed a hold of Voltron by Red and Green Lions as it used its head to charge against the mighty defender.

"Damn, that's it, I'm done playing with this thing," Dylan stated. "Hunk, do you think we can focus all of our power to the Blazing Sword? Will it be enough to penetrate the armor and get to its power source?"

**Running calculations,** Hunk came over the com. **Pidge, what is our power levels?**

**Eighty percent,** the young man announced. **We have to get an opening quick. The Blazing Sword will definitely eat up most of that energy.**

"Got it," Dylan stated. "Timing...Just need to get the timing."

Dylan pulled Voltron back as he studied the robeast. He breathed in deeply as he watched as the monster lumbered from side to side, watching as it watched them. He took note of the damage it received, every hit that connected by Voltron had it's effect. Then he spotted what he wanted. The monster always breathed in deeply as it readied for an attack. And in that moment, it was the opening he was looking for.

"That's it!" he yelled. "Form Blazing Sword!"

Hunk timed his energy transfer just as Dylan finished forming the large weapon and as the monster breathed in one last time, Dylan charged forward. With as much strength as he could muster in the giant robot, Dylan stabbed the robeast right through the armor, hitting the lazon power source that fueled it. Just as he was about to pull Voltron out of the way, the robeast reacted much differently than he had anticipated. The robeast grabbed ahold of Green lion and started pulling Voltron toward it sending the sword right through it, and with its other hand grabbed a hold Voltron's head in a tight grip.

**We have to get away!** Pidge yelled. **We've ruptured the power source. The explosion is going to tear us apart.**

"Damn thing won't let us go!" Dylan said through gritted teeth. "What the hell is it doing?"

**Dylan, the Cross!** Lance yelled. **Use it!**

**No, that will just cause a chain reaction!** Hunk yelled.

Dylan breathed in heavily as he looked at his viewscreen. "You're not taking all of us with you," he stated. He quickly turned his controls down and started the sequence to separate the lions.

**Dylan, what are you doing?**

"Get away, now!"

**Dylan, no!**

The robeast reacted violently as the lions separated and was only left with Black lion in its grip. Dylan then watched his viewscreen.

"Die you son of a bitch."

Dylan fired his thrusters to pull out of the robeast's grip, but it was too late. The robeast grabbed onto Black lion with its free hand shoving, the lion to the ground as it exploded over the lion. Dylan shielded his eyes as his head then hit the back of his seat. The force of it knocking him unconscious.

**DYLAN!**


	11. Chapter 11

Hearts of Courage  
Arus  
arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com

Relative disclaimers apply.

*I know this is a long time coming, but I finally got inspired to write more for it. This is a long chapter, to make up for the long update. Hope you enjoy. Warning, this chapter is a little more violent than the others.

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

Dr. Gorma looked up as Hunk and Eysia barged into the infirmary as they carried Dylan into the room. He quickly had his nurses prep one of the emergency rooms and instructed the two to bring the Commander in.

"What happened?" Gorma asked as he took out his pen light and quickly examined the unconscious commander. He quickly checked his pupils for any reaction.

"A robeast exploded on him," Hunk stated as he stepped away. "Nearly tore the Black apart."

Dr. Gorma looked up at him in surprise. "Out all of you," he said. "I'll get your full report later."

Hunk and Eysia nodded as they left the room and Gorma called over his nurses. Eysia stood before the observation window the room and watched as the nurses peel off Dylan's uniform to tend to the many abrasions that covered his body. It was at that moment, Reiji and Madison had rushed into the infirmary and joined their teammate at the window.

"Is he okay?" Madison asked.

"We just got him into the room," Eysia quickly answered. "We have to wait until the Doctor is done."

"Lieutenant, if you'll excuse me, I have a Lion to tend to," Hunk stated. "Keep the rest of us informed if the Commander's condition improves."

Madison nodded as she watched as Hunk leave the room.

* * *

Allura let out a gasp as she watched as Yellow Lion and Red Lion slowly bring in the damaged Black Lion. Coran stood by her side as the scientists guided the two lions to rest the downed Black into the supports and they land their lions beside it.

"Jian! Carefully!" Lance yelled as the Beta Team Red Lion pilot slowly descended. "She took a bit of a hit during the battle today."

**Don't worry, she's in good hands, Lieutenant,** Jian came over the speakers. **Easing her down.**

Lance made his way to where Coran and Allura were standing and sighed as he watched as Red Lion landed next to Yellow.

"We really took a beating today," Lance said under his breath as he stood next to Allura. "If it wasn't for Dylan's quick thinking..."

Allura slowly nodded. "Black was in good hands," she said then looked to the damaged lion. "We just didn't know what we were up against."

Coran cleared his throat audibly. "Lieutenant, if you could follow me."

Lance turned to Coran as he slowly made his leave from the repair bay. He then looked at Allura, but she slowly shook her head. With a shrug, he made a quick run to catch up with the long time castle magistrate.

"What is it Coran?"

"I need you to evaluate everyone's performance today," Coran said. "Including your team members."

"Coran, you have got to be kidding me," Lance stated as he stopped in the hallway. "We have damaged lions, and members injured from the attack today. Why do you need a report now?"

Coran turned to him, seeing the annoyance in the Red Lion pilot's eyes.

"Don't misunderstand my own feelings on this, Lance," Coran stated. "We were presented with a formidable enemy today, who took advantage of us in every way possible. I want a report to evaluate what we can do to be better. Your insight into everyone's performance will help us determine a course of action so we do not have a repeat of what happened today."

Lance slowly nodded. "I understand," his irritation slowly ebbing away. "Even through all of this, we couldn't even rescue Alania."

Coran could only nod. "We can only assume that whatever this Tarris has in mind, that she is still alive and well," he said. "Remember, she's not just one of Nanny's maids."

"But she's not us, Coran."

"I understand how you feel, Lieutenant," Coran stated. "Every time one of you goes out there, to confront whatever Zarkon throws at us, is every moment I die a little on the inside. You've all become very important to me, and very important to this kingdom. We cannot lose one of you and if we aren't prepared for anything that Zarkon will throw at us, then we will lose everything that we have fought for."

"Coran, this General Tarris..."

"Yes, I know," Coran stated. "Which is why your report will help us. He has been one step ahead, and we need to make sure that he doesn't take advantage of us again." Coran then let out a sigh. "Dr. Gorma wishes to have you visit him when you are free. He only asked for you, so please oblige him when you are free."

Lance slowly nodded and headed back into the Castle. Allura sighed heavily as she joined Coran in the hallway.

"Hunk says that Black Lion was heavily damaged by the robeast's explosion. Much of the shielding has been stripped away," Allura stated. "It will take weeks to repair, and in that time, we have to repair the other lions as well."

Coran turned to her and nodded. "I'll have Admiral Benson, get in touch with Admiral Graham and Admiral Hawkins for the Explorer," he stated. "If the Garrsion Voltron Force can provide some back up until we are ready, we can probably get through this time."

Allura nodded. "After Hunk and Eysia get the diagnostics done on all the damaged lions, have them and the rest of the able Force members from both teams meet me in the East Conference room," she stated. "We'll need to recover from this, and the sooner we can get started, the faster we can be ready for whatever Tarris has planned."

"I'll see that your message gets relayed." he stated.

Allura then met his gaze. "Any word on Dylan?"

"Gorma is tending to him as we speak," Coran stated. "And before you ask, Commander Takashi came out of surgery while you were all in battle. He is still asleep, and will be for some time. Gorma will let us know once he awakens."

"Thank you, Coran," she said. "Please see that the others get my message."

"I will."

* * *

Alania stared out of the window, watching the star scape before her. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, wishing the room wasn't as cold as it felt. She walked up to the window, laying her head against it as the ship she was aboard, raced through space to a destination she had no interest of knowing.

"Why have you brought me here?"

Tarris had only stepped through the door to his private quarters only moments before when he saw that she was standing near the only window in the room. Surprise that she could sense his presence, he walked slowly into the room as the door slid closed behind him.

She quickly turned to him, meeting his gaze with her own dark ones.

"I asked you a question," she stated. "Why have you brought me here?"

Tarris turned away from her as he walked over to a small mantle and removed the gloves he wore.

"I needed you to lure the Voltron Force into a battle I set up," he stated as he walked over to a nearby table that was filled with liquor from all over the galaxy.

"Liar," she said through gritted teeth. "You didn't need me to do that. Your infiltration into the Castle and the damage you've done to the villages nearby was more than enough to have the Voltron Force defend Arus against your forces. So I ask again, why have you brought me here?"

Tarris paused as he looked at the glass before him, then he continued to open a bottle and pour some of its contents into the glass. "Do I really need a reason?" he asked.

"You purposefully sought me out, so you could trick them," she said as she slowly walked toward him. "I have a right to know why, out of all of the opportunities you were provided, why you chose me to be apart of your sick plan."

"Sick plan?" Tarris asked as he drank from his glass and started toward her. "What I planned was not sick at all. I consider it masterful. I've injured nearly half of the Voltron Force members, and my attacks damaged three of the Voltron lions, one maybe beyond repair. I've done more in the last twenty four hours than Zarkon and his fool of a son has done in a year." As he came to stand before her, he smiled. "Sick? It was genius."

Alania turned away from him as she stepped back. "You gladly hurt my friends and you take pride in their misery," she said. "Yet you have the gall to tell me that your wonderful plan, included my kidnapping?"

"You weren't part of my plan," he stated. "Just a convenient asset."

Alania turned toward him meeting his gaze as he stared at her. "What?" she asked. "You take me away from my family and friends, to start a war, and all you can say is that I was a convenient asset?"

"Does it surprise you that you are nothing more than just a pawn in this war?" he asked. "Everyone is a pawn, my dear. The sooner you realize that, the farther you will go."

Alania slowly turned away from him. "Unfortunately for you, this pawn will not give up so easily."

Tarris let out a groan as he was suddenly caught off guard, when she attacked him. The force of her hit on him, sent him off balance, and as he gained his footing to turn toward her, she was running toward him with another attack. Her strike caught him across his chest, which sent him into the mantle behind him. He let out a groan as she stood before him, taking up a defensive stance.

"What...the..."

Alania smiled to herself as she watched him get to his feet, readying herself if he were to strike her. "The Princess has had a secret service of specially trained guards ever since Prince Lotor decided to pay her a visit one evening," she stated as she rounded him. "Since then, its been under order that we train along side the Voltron Force, to keep the Princess safe from any intruders."

Tarris slowly moved from the mantle as he looked her, eyeing her stance as she kept her distance from him.

"And who has been training you?" he asked.

Alania smiled. "Why don't you try to figure that out," she stated.

Tarris eyed her, studying what she was doing. He then moved toward her, to test her reaction, and when he saw what he wanted, he moved in to hit her. She blocked his hit, and struck out at him in retaliation, catching him in his side. He recovered quickly, as she moved away.

"Fast." he stated.

"Smarter," she said.

Alania then blocked as he attacked her with a kick, recovering in time to catch the arm that was about to catch her in her neck. She used his momentum in the punch and flipped him over as she then twisted his arm, placing her knee against his neck.

"So, am I to take down this entire ship so that you can take me home?" she asked.

Tarris only smiled at her. "My dear, you obviously do not understand the predicament you are in."

Alania gasped as he brought up his free arm and punched her in the side that was to him, then used his legs to trap her in a hold. Regaining his balance, he slowly extricated her from his grip, and picked her up as she fought against his hold on her.

"You fight well for a mere maid," he stated. He threw her onto the bed in the room, where he took a rope that held the beds curtains apart off and tied her wrists together. "And whoever trained you, must have been a formidable fighter."

"I'll give him your compliments when I return to Arus," she stated. "Let me go."

Tarris could only smile as he looked down at her. "I will let you go, when I feel that you've served your purpose," he stated. He then met her dark gaze.

Alania watched as his eyes studied her, as she fought against the binds on her wrist. For a moment, she saw something in them, the same look he had when she first met him in the Castle gardens. A curiosity.

Tarris then turned away from her as he grabbed another rope and tied her ankles together. "We will reach Doom in a few hours," he stated. "It would be wise if you do not try to make your escape there as you will have nowhere to go, but to the Slave pits owned by King Zarkon. Even with your training, you wouldn't last long there. You shall remain on this cruiser in the mean time."

"And when I have served my purpose, what will happen then?"

"I haven't decided yet," he said. "If you behave, then maybe when we've destroyed Arus, you will be able to reunite with your family and friends."

"You might as well just kill me now," she stated.

"You would willingly give up your life just because we will destroy that pitiful planet?"

"That planet is my home," she said. "Destroying it, means you destroy everything that I hold dear to me."

Tarris studied her for a moment. "Your question earlier."

"What?"

"Why I brought you here?"

"You've already said that I am merely a pawn in your masterful plan."

"No," he said. "You remind me of someone I once knew."

"What?"

And before he repeated his answer, he quickly stood and moved away from the bed. "Get some rest," he said. "If you are wanted by King Zarkon to be questioned, you'd best have your strength."

Alania watched as he poured himself another drink and then leave the room. She then let out her breath as she struggled with the bonds around her wrist. Slowly working her way out of it, she let out a groan as she rubbed her wrists together. She then looked up above her, her eyes focusing on the silk canopy that covered the bed. She wanted so much to be off this ship and away from everything around her, yet something deep within her made her want to be there. It was the look he had in his eyes. A look she believed held more secrets, secrets that she wanted to find out.

* * *

Lance stretched his arms as he slowly entered the infirmary. It was now early evening, and after speaking with everyone on the Alpha and the Beta teams, he had finally turned in his report to Coran and made his way to the Castle's infirmary.

As soon as he entered, the nurse on duty smiled at him and quickly stood. "Lieutenant," she greeted him. "Dr. Gorma has been expecting you. He is waiting for you in Examination Room 3."

Lance smiled as she showed him the way through the door. "Thanks, Lisa," he said as he walked passed her.

He made his way down the long corridor, passing by two empty rooms before reaching the Examination Room that she said that he would be in. Lance peered into the room and let out a gasp seeing Dr. Gorma standing over a bed, taking some readings of the patient lying in it.

"Ah, Lieutenant," Dr. Gorma stated as he motioned for him to enter the room.

The patient in the bed, slowly turned his head and Lance nearly jumped in place as he made his way into the room.

"Keith!"

"Lance, keep it down will ya!" Keith said with a smile. "The medicine that Gorma gave me tends to make my hearing a little more sensitive than usual."

"Man, it's good to see you are up," Lance said as he came to stand by his bedside. "So I take it the operation was successful. By the way, you look like crap."

Keith could only smile as Lance saw that nearly every inch of his body was bandaged up. There was a slight swelling and discoloration the the left side of his face.

"Successful in the sense that we were able to remove all the shards of glass and repair some of the muscle tissue, Lieutenant," Dr. Gorma stated. "Which is why I asked you to be here instead of the entire team."

Lance looked at the doctor in confusion.

"It's going to take a few weeks till I completely heal, Lance," Keith stated simply.

"The Commander has lost 30 percent of his muscle mass due to the explosion, and it will take some time to build that muscle back," Dr. Gorma explained.

"What does that mean?" Lance asked as he grabbed a chair nearby and seated himself in it. "Does that mean you can't walk?"

Keith shook his head. "No, I can walk Lance, I just won't be able to walk far or stand for long periods of time," he said. "Dr. Gorma is suggesting that I go through some Physical Therapy."

"PT?" Lance asked. "How are we going to do that?"

"With all of your help," Keith stated. "Dr. Gorma and I have developed a schedule that should help, but I'll need everyone to be on board with it. If I can't make a full recovery in 9 weeks, Admiral Graham will be forced to send in a replacement for me."

"Replacement?" Lance asked. "You don't mean."

"I'm afraid that the Commander's health is what we all need to concentrate on, Lieutenant."

"Lance, the reason I'm entrusting you with this, is that you were the only other person I know that trained at the same dojo back on Earth that I attended," Keith stated.

"If you don't remember Keith, I was kicked out of it because I caused so much trouble," Lance said with a smile. "Sensei Nagano thought that I was doing it for all the wrong reasons."

"And it was I who convinced him to let you back in," Keith said. "Lance, I need you. You have to help me get over this, and only through what we learned together, can I heal faster."

"I've outlined a regime that I think will help in the rehabilitation process," Dr. Gorma stated as he handed Lance a schedule. "I see that training should be for 6 hours a day. Each of the main Voltron Force will contribute to this schedule, based on your specialty. Lance, I will entrust that you will look after all of this as well as his mental health."

"Mental health?"

"Dr. Gorma feels that once the PT starts, that it will also affect me mentally," Keith stated. "Despite my reassurances otherwise."

"This will be a grueling process, to rebuild your strength and muscle, Commander," Dr. Gorma stated. "And that can place a burden and stress on you, that you've never experienced before. I want to be sure that you are handling this while keeping yourself focused on the task at hand."

"This also means, Lieutenant, that you will be assuming command of the Voltron Force, until I deem that the Commander is ready and able to return to active duty," Dr. Gorma added.

"What?" Lance asked as he quickly stood up. "I...I...can't."

"Lance, I told Benson to hand over command to you, unless Allura or Coran objects," Keith stated. "That means, old friend, you get to boss me around for a bit."

"What about our team then?" Lance asked. "We are still one member short."

"You are to work with Prince Jeryn to fill in, he will train to pilot Red while you train with Dylan in Black," Keith said simply.

"Are you serious?"

"It's only temporary, Lance," Keith said. "Please, the security and safety of Arus cannot stop because I'm laid up. You have to keep it going."

Lance slowly nodded. "I'll work with Coran to see if we can get Prince Jeryn training tomorrow in the Blue Lion," he said. "Red is in for repair and Hunk doesn't know when she'll be ready."

"Remember Lance, if the Blue doesn't accept him, please wait till Red is repaired," he said. "By the way, how...how is Commander Fox?"

Lance met Dr. Gorma's gaze. "The Commander is unconscious at this moment," he simply stated. "He foolishly took off his helmet during battle and in the final battle against the robeast, he hit his head against the seat. I'm waiting for the scans I asked for to see if there has been internal damage."

"Did everyone make it out all right?"

"Everyone is fine," Lance said. "Dylan did well out there. Though, you'll probably want to kill him after you see what he did to your Lion."

"Black?"

"He saved us, Keith," he said. "He had the presence of mind to disengage Voltron before the damn robeast exploded. Unfortunately, Black took the brunt of the explosion."

Keith slowly nodded. "Keep me posted on the repairs being done," he said. "And once Black and Commander Fox are able, get them both up and training as soon as possible."

"So soon?"

"Tarris will not wait until we are 100 percent," Keith stated. "He has already shown us that he won't mind attacking us while we are down."

"Jeryn let us use the weapon in Yellow Lion," Lance said. "It seems that Tarris knew that we had it, and purposefully brought the two robeasts to see if he could lure us into using it."

"What was the impact of the weapon on the systems?"

"Did exactly what Jeryn said it would," Lance said. "However, it drains the power from the Lions and even Voltron at a faster rate."

"Understood," Keith said. "Have Pidge and Reiji work on the readouts from the weapon and how it affected our systems. If you have to, retest when the Lions are fully functional. I want to see the comparison between using it and not using it."

Lance smiled. "Even when not in command you are still in command," Lance stated. "I'll see what Pidge and Reiji can come up with. Do you think we can make the system more efficient?"

Keith slowly nodded. "Jeryn's family developed it as a defense meachnism first," he said. "Best we look to use it as that application before we try to use it as a real world weapon."

"I'll speak with Jeryn to see if there were other applications that were meant for it."

"Lance, make sure that the schematics for that is safely hidden away," he stated. "Do not even store it in the Castle's computers."

"Afraid that someone will steal it?"

"Tarris infiltrated this Castle once, since he is human," Keith stated. "It won't stop him from trying again."

"Commander, you will need to get your rest," Dr. Gorma interjected. "I'm sure the rest of the team would like to see you, so I would like you to save what strength you have for them."

Keith nodded. "Be up early, Lieutenant, we have an early start tomorrow."

Lance smiled. "First time in a long time, I'll get to kick your ass, Commander."

Keith let out a laugh. "Hey, I have these neat little things called crutches, Lieutenant," he said. "They make great weapons."

* * *

Haggar watched as the image before her, turned and rotated in the etherial space before her. A young man, with dark short hair and dark brown eyes stared back as she manipulated the image with her dark magic.

"Stalking people now, Haggar?"

The witch slowly turned as Prince Lotor joined her at her side.

"Didn't know you were into human men, Haggar."

The witch snickered as she waved her staff and the image changed again to that of the Voltron Commander. She watched Lotor's reaction as he crossed his arms.

"My Prince, you know of the young man who commands Voltron," she started to say and waved her staff once more that it returned to the image of the young man he came upon. "Notice a similarity?"

Lotor studied the image carefully and slowly nodded. "They look...similar..."

"They are brothers, my Prince," she stated with a hint of humor in her voice. "This is Commander Keitaro Takashi, formerly of Earth and the Galaxy Garrison."

"So that man has a brother?"

Haggar slowly nodded. "An older brother, it seems." she said as she brought up a report and it flashed before them. "Almost 14 years ago, an expedition to Planet Ebb was met with dire circumstances, thanks to some rouge Drule pirates. Destroyed the ship he was aboard, and no one was left alive."

"And this concerns us how?"

"That's what I intend to find out," she stated. "It seems that the Commander's entire family was aboard that ship; mother, father, and his older brother."

"I see," Lotor commented as he stared at the image floating before him. "Planet Ebb?"

Haggar slowly nodded as she turned to him, smiling to herself as he seemed lost in thought.

"The 4th Kingdom used to patrol the space around Planet Ebb because of the rich minerals that the outer planets provided," Lotor stated. "Do you think that Tarris was apart of the crew that may have attacked their ship?"

Haggar slowly turned as she stared at the image before her. "One of many possibilities," she said. "Or..."

"Yes, old witch?"

Haggar slowly removed the glass she had taken from a couple of nights before, and placed it in front of the floating image before her.

"That they are one in the same..."

* * *

Ilandra breathed in deeply as she awoke from her sleep, clutching the bed covers against her naked form. She felt cold, despite the roaring fire from the nearby fireplace and the warm body that currently shared her bed. Her heart raced, as images from a time before, plagued her dreams.

She slowly turned as she looked down upon the sleeping form of Tarris, as he seemed to sleep soundly face down against her bedding, undisturbed by her own movements. She studied him for a moment, before leaning over to him, placing her hand against his exposed cheek.

"Tarris..." she whispered.

He breathed in deeply, opening his eyes for a moment before slipping back to sleep. Her heart continued to race and beat hard against her breast, as she reached for the small necklace she wore around her neck.

She slowly removed the covers around her body, as she got out of the bed and walked over to the fire place as she yanked the necklace she wore. She held out her hand in front of her, as the necklace floated before her, opening to reveal that it was a locket of some sort, a familiar image from within stared back at her as it floated in mid-air.

"Tarris..." she whispered again as she stared at the aged photo within the locket. A young Drule soldier, with dark hair and yellow eyes stared back at her. "You were such a fool..."

She roared with anger as she grabbed the locket out of the air and flung the small necklace toward the fire place, stopping it just before it fell into the roaring fire as she thought against destroying it. Destroying a part of her.

"Have I lost you?"

* * *

**15 years ago...**

Ilandra smiled to herself as the Drule squadron she accompanied landed on the barren moon, as they prepared to scour the ship that they had just shot down. The smoking heap of the Galaxy Alliance ship crashed over the few hundred meters of terrain, but the main body of the ship had remained quite intact. She hoped that the intel she did receive would pay off. The technology they could steal from this ship, would help them immensely in their wars against the other Drule kingdoms.

"We will have to work fast, since we are in Galaxy Alliance territory," a young Drule commander stated as he stepped in the transport area of the ship they were in. "Look for anything, whether its data pads, memory units, even any of their weapons aboard. Take what you can carry back to this ship. We will only have 46 Kerants to complete this mission."

Ilandra leaned forward, meeting his gaze as he met hers. She slowly nodded as the soldiers all stood up, grabbing their weapons and gear as she stood. They would need to work fast, and she was there to make sure their operation moved quickly and smoothly.

As she passed the young commander, he grabbed her by her arm and looked her straight into her eyes.

"Now, Ilandra, there maybe some humans alive that are aboard," he warned her. "Be careful."

She smiled as she shook her arm out of his hold and reached up to touch him. "I know how to take care of these pathetic humans," she said and a small mischevious smile. "Are you going to watch my back?" she asked as she leaned to him.

"It's not your back that I'm concerned about," he replied.

She smiled. "Once this mission is done, dear husband, I'll give you something to watch."

She quickly stepped away as she hurried out of the ship, following the rest of her squadron. She turned around once she joined the group to catch him exiting the ship as well, helmet and weapon in hand as he rushed to catch up with him.

"Commander Tarris is going to get a hero's welcome when he returns to Coeus with the prize aboard this ship," a soldier near her stated as she walked side by side with him.

"You do well, Lanys, and I'll be sure to see that you get that welcome as well," Ilandra stated. "You're the only other man in this squad that I trust."

The soldier she had called Lanys turned to her. "Remember it well, my lady," he stated.

"Watch my husband's back, Lanys," she said. "That's all I ask for."

The Drule soldier slowly nodded as their squad slowly came to a halt before the hulking ship. Fire and smoke billowed from several areas, and there seemed to be no easy entrance into it. The squad then made way as Ilandra stepped forward, examining the ship before her.

"Pathetic terran construction," she commented.

She raised her hands before her, and whispering a small incantation, the steel of the hull before her began to deform and a small section started to peel away from the hull. The sound was deafening, but as the section pulled away, the soldiers started to make their way into the crashed ship.

Ilandra then followed in after them, looking around as they had entered a small hallway within the ship. Smoke filled the tight compartment, though she followed the corridor until it opened up into a large room.

"Ah, they're docking bay," Lanys stated as he joined her. "If I'm correct and Terrans build their ships similarly, we should be near the medical as well as their engineering and science sections."

Ilandra nodded. "I need to get access to their control room if we are to pull the data we need," she stated.

"Take three men with you and head toward those doors on the far left," Lanys stated and looked up as Tarris joined them. "That should take you directly to their main control room up on the navigation deck."

"Go with her, Lanys," Tarris ordered. "We'll search down here and I'll join you shortly."

Ilandra slowly shook her head. "I rather he stay here with you," she stated. She looked around. "There's...there's something odd about this ship. I'll be safe in the control room, but here...keep an eye out."

Tarris looked at her, but understood as she made her way to the set of doors that Lanys told her to go through.

Ilandra breathed in deeply, still unused to the type of air found in Terran ships. She hoped that the computers within the control room could be quickly accessed, so she could leave as soon as she got the data. She always felt ill after spending time near anything that was Terran.

The doors to the control room slid open and she was greeted with red flashing lights and upended fixtures. She placed her hand to her nose and mouth as she stepped over several bodies that were near the doors; dead from what looked to be blast that caught them by surprise. She looked over the small room, studying the broken control panels and displays, then happening upon a computer that wasn't damaged. She mader her way to it, pulling out a small device that she brought with her.

She waved her hand over the panel before her as she placed the device over the panel. Opening it, a small display lit up, providing her instructions in Drule as she placed small connectiong between the device and an access port on the side of the panel. Once connected, the Drule display came to life, as lines of code and schematics was fed into the small computer.

Coughing then caught her attention as she looked up, withdrawing her gun as she stared in the direction she heard the noise. She then turned to the small computer she brought and watched as it continued to work, before making her way toward where she had heard the cough.

The cough came again, causing her to turn slightly to her left. There she saw a pile of borken displays piled up against the wall. As she made her way to the pile, she noticed that there was a body beneath the displays.

Carefully, she moved the displays away, to reveal an older Terran man, coughing as she met his gaze. A look of surprise crossed his features as he tried to move away, but then screamed out in pain.

*"Who...who are you?"*

Ilandra looked at him confusingly, not understanding the Terran language he spoke. She then studied him, noticing the large blood spot that covered his abdomen and part of his leg.

*"What...what did you want?"*

Ilandra kneeled before him as he followed her movements. She reached out to him, touching the blood spot that formed on his left leg. He screamed in pain.

"Humans, are delicate, my dear."

She quickly turned around to see Tarris standing behind her. She slowly stood as the injured human stared back at the both of them.

"They smell funny," she said.

"That they do," he said. He then turned to the older man. *"Do you understand me, human?"*

Ilandra watched as Tarris slowly kneeled speaking in the strange terran language to the older man on the floor.

*"Why have you attacked a Galaxy Alliance ship?"* the older man asked.

Tarris smiled. *"We want what you have on this ship, Admiral."*

The older man stared back at him, as he tried to push himself up. Wincing, he stared back at Tarris. *"You know who we are, but you still attacked us?"*

*"We've been tracking your movements for the last 2 months across this system, Admiral,"* he stated. *"We then heard about your new...Alliance fighters. Now, we can't have the Galaxy Alliance testing new fighters, that will be used against us in the near future, so we were tasked with retrieving information on your fighters to develop a way to counter them."*

*"Then take the information and go,"* the older man stated. *"We can not stop you. You've rendered our ship useless and our distress signal was sent only a few minutes before our crash. It'll take days for an Alliance ship to reach us."*

Tarris smiled. *"It isn't that easy, Admiral,"* he said. *"If you are still alive, then you will tell the Alliance of what we did here and why. Now, we can't have that."*

Tarris slowly stood, grabbing hold of the older man by his arm. The older man screamed as he was hoisted to his feet and then forced to walk on his injured leg to the doors that lead to the docking bay.

Ilandra followed closely behind after she grabbed the small computer she brought with her, as Tarris dragged the man through the corridors and then into the docking bay. There she saw that five other humans, who were still alive were found, and gathered into the center of the bay. One, a human female suddenly got to her feet.

*"KEN!"* she yelled.

A Drule soldier that was standing behind her pushed her back down as Tarris pushed the older man toward her.

Ilandra watched as the woman crawled over to the older man, helping him to sit up as tears edged at her green eyes.

*"Let us go, you have what you wanted!"* the woman yelled as she turned to Tarris.

"Why is she yelling?" Ilandra asked. "And what is happening with her eyes?"

"Such is the weakness of humans, my dear," Tarris stated. "She is what they call, crying."

"Crying?" Ilandra asked. "Leaking water from one's eyes, is crying?"

Tarris nodded. He then stepped forward, pushing the older man away, and catching the woman by her arm as he lifted her up.

*"Commander Mae Ava Takashi, I presume?"* he asked. "Now, Commander, of all people who should be aboard, it would be the person who helped design the new Alliance fighters."

Ilandra stared at Tarris as he spoke to her in Drule, and despite the confusion that were expressed by the other human prisoners, the woman only stared back at him.

"And you must be Commander Tarris," she spoke in their language. "The Galaxy Alliance warned us that you were close by."

"You should have heeded their warnings, Commander," Tarris stated.

The woman pulled herself away from him as she stared back. "Then let us go, you have what you came for." she stated. "You've killed everyone aboard just to get access to my designs."

"Not everything, my dear," he said. *"I also need you."*

Tarris' last statement caused the other humans to react, including the older man the woman had helped.

*"You can't take her!"* the man roared in anger.

Tarris pulled out the gun from the holster on his hip and pointed it at him.

*"I can and I will, old man,"* Tarris stated. *"Come with me, now, Commander, and I will let these men live. They can be rescued by the Galaxy Alliance and report on how we were able to even defeat your best men this far out in space. They will think twice about trying to induct the planets within this system to their little club."*

The woman looked at Tarris before turning to the older man who was struggling against the soldier's hold on him.

*"Don't Mae,"* he nearly yelled. *"He'll just kill you anyway. He's just going to kill us all."*

Ilandra watched as the woman slowly turned toward Tarris, water streaming from her eyes as she reached for an item that was hidden away under the belt of the pants she wore. Ilandra stepped forward, ready to deflect the action of the woman, but Tarris was quick to react. He grabbed the woman's hand as she brandished what looked to be a knife. Tightening his grip on her and twisting her hand, the knife fell from her hand, with a loud thud against the ground.

The woman fell to her knees as she began to sob.

"Kill one of them," Tarris ordered one of his men. "Maybe that will make her decide."

"Over my dead body."

Ilandra gasped as a dark figure moved quickly across the bay, taking out three of the Drule soldiers before they could react. Tarris ready the gun he held as he watched as the dark figure came to stand, dispatching another one of his men with a quick slice of a knife to the Drule soldier's throat, and freeing one of the human hostages.

"How dare..."

"I dare, because you are aboard my ship, asshole."

Ilandra watched as the figure turned and stared them down. A young male, she deduced, tall, and he looked much like hte older man who as now cradiling the woman that Tarris had interogated. She then turned to her husband, who seemed to be mostly amused at the situation then reactionary.

"Ahh...so this is the young Admiral Takashi," Tarris stated as he then turned to the older man. "You brought your whole family with you?"

"Leave my father out of this, Commander," the young man stated. "You have to deal with me, if you wish to leave alive."

Tarris laughed to himself. "And you, think you can kill me?"

"If your soldiers are any example of the kind of fight I'm to expect, and they serve under you, I think that is something that can be easily arranged."

Ilandra stepped forward, ready to grab her husband's arm.

"Imputent whelp of a human," Tarris snarled. "Your insult shall not go ignored."

"Oh that was nothing, Commander," the young man stated. "I have a bag full of insults that I haven't even tried yet."

"Tarris," Ilandra warned. "Don't fall into his trap."

"Trap?" Tarris nearly yelled. "We have his ship, he is surrounded by my troops, the only trap here, is the one that we have set up."

Ilandra stepped back from him, feeling quite uneasy about the situation. She didn't know if it had to do with the challenge put forth to her husband by the young man who stood before them, or if the terran air of the ship was getting to her.

And before she could stop her husband from acting, he charged at the young man, pulling out a small knife of his own.

Ilandra turned quickly to the couple huddled together on the floor. She turned to Lanys and signaled for him to gather the rest of the hostages togehter quickly and the rest of the men to vacate the docking bay, taking the 3 other humans with them.

She then stood over the young woman pulling her away from the older man as she retrieved a small satchel from the pack she wore at her waist. She pulled out what looked to be satin rope and quickly wrapped it around the woman's throat.

*"Mae!"* the older man yelled but Lanys was quick to pull him away, hitting him with the end of his gun to silence him.

Looking up, she saw an over head beam and threw the end of the rope over it, handing the end of it to Lanys. The Drule soldier then wrapped the end of the rope around the older mans throat.

"KEITARO!" the woman yelled.

Ilandra looked up to see the young man fighting her husband come to a complete stop, turning toward them as Ilandra placed her hand against the woman's forehead.

"Tarris, tell him to stop or I will kill her!" Ilandra yelled. "Tell him that she will die if he doesn't surrender."

"Ilandra, no!" Tarris yelled. "We need her."

"No, we don't," Ilandra yelled.

A slight glow emanated from her hand enveloping the woman's head as the she screamed out in pain. With her other hand, she slowly formed a blue glow, that then surrounded the steel beam above them, which caused the entire mass to slowly levitate.

As the beam lifted, and brought the man and woman to a standing position, Ilandra removed her hand from the woman's head and opened it to reveal a small black disc in the palm of her hand.

"All that she knows we have now," Ilandra stated. "We do not need these humans."

"No!"

Ilandra quickly turned around as Tarris ran to stop the young man from charging her. Gasping, she signaled for Lanys to move away and with both her hands, she lifted them high above her. With that motion, the beam sky rocketed up above her.

"NO!"

Tarris tackled the young man to the ground as Ilandra slowly brought her arms down, and the steel beam slowly floated down. Ilandra breathed in deeply as she met the young man's gaze, as tears flooded his eyes, and she released the force that held the beam aloft to have it land on the opposite side of where they were.

The older man and woman fell before them both, lifeless, their necks lobbed to the side like broken rag dolls.

Tarris stared at Ilandra and the two dead bodies before them before taking the knife he held in his hand and then stabbing it into the side of the young man he tackled. The man screamed out in pain as he stabbed him once again.

"No one, challenges me, and lives, Admiral," Tarris stated as he stood and kicked the prone man on the ground, several times before kneeling and placing his kneed against the man's back.

"And then you dare to attack my wife, and expect me to do nothing?" he asked as he brought his knife down again, stabbing the young man through his shoulder and then grabbing ahold of his right arm and twisting it to his back, breaking it at his elbow.

Ilandra slowly walked toward them, coming to stand just before the young human on the floor, knuding the lifeless body of the older man to the side.

"Tarris, please don't kill him?" she pleaded. "I want to study him."

Tarris looked up at her, seeing the curiosity in her eyes. "We have 3 other humans that we can study, my dear," he said. "This one is no use to us."

She slowly kneeled down before them as Tarris pushed the young man's head into the steel floor of the docking bay.

"He is quite beautiful, don't you think?"

"If you have weird tastes my dear," Tarris said. He then grabbed the young man by his hair and lifted his head up.

Ilandra studied him for a moment, seeing the discoloration around his right eye and split lip. Tarris can be a cruel fighter, she knew that from her time with him, but she couldn't help but be curious about the human before her. She then smiled as she leaned forward, whispering to the young man.

"I tried to save you, but Tarris always has his way," she whispered. She then smiled. "Curious, I wonder what you little brother will do now that his entire family is gone...maybe a trip to Earth...to find him is in order...I have agents all over this universe, some of them are Terran. Would you like to see your brother in hell?."

She watched as his eyes widened as she slowly stood up, looking down at her husband as the young man struggled under his hold.

"You fucking witch!" he yelled. "I'll tear your heart out!"

Tarris then grabbed him by his hair and slammed his face into the steel floor and stabbed him again with his knife, this time right through the center of his back. The Drule commander then stood when the young man didn't move.

Lanys came to stand by them, as Ilandra handed their trusted friend the satchel that contained the disc and small computer she brought with her.

"We should have all of their information now," Ilandra stated. "We will be able to access what is on the disc when we get back to Coeus."

Tarris nodded as he sheathed his knife after cleaning it. Turning to the young man, who laid prone on the floor, as blood pooled around his lifeless body, he breathed in deeply.

"My dear, you can be as cruel as I when in battle," he said turning to her. "I would hate to ever get on your bad side."

Ilandra smiled. "Only to serve you, my dear."

"Then you both can go to hell."

Ilandra gasped when she heard the laser shot ring through the docking bay, followed by the exasperated breath as Lanys reacted.

She didn't know when she realized she was in pain, but it wasn't until she saw the shocked looked in her husband's eyes, did she realize the large blood stain that formed just at her right shoulder. She then looked up, watching as his eyes slowly rolled back in his head, and the small blood spot forming at the temple of his head.

"Tarris," she said weakly.

"My lady!"

It was at that moment, Ilandra suddenly felt numb. She watched as Lanys move to catch Tarris as his body slumped to the floor. She then stared past where her husband had stood to see the young man...the human, holding a laser pistol in his left hand, aimed at both of them.

"No one threatens my family and lives," the young man breathlessly stated. "You killed my parents...I killed your husband. All's fair in war."

Ilandra then cried out as she held out her hand which sent a blinding light toward the young man, which caused him to fly across the bay.

"My lady..."

Ilandra looked to Lanys as he held Tarris in his arms. She rushed over to him looking over Tarris as tears edged at her own eyes.

"No...no...please." Ilandra begged as she took ahold of her husband's hand.

"I'm sorry, my lady." Lanys stated. "The shot was clean and on target."

Ilandra breathed in deeply as she looked around the docking bay, then to the young man who had shot them both. She then noticed the small rise and fall of the human's chest, signaling that he was still alive.

A sudden realization came to her as she turned to Lanys and had him stand. "No, we can still save him," she said. "Take the Commander back to the ship. I'll meet you there."

"My lady, but..."

"Lanys, do this please. I'll meet you there."

With a nod, the Drule soldier carried her lifeless husband's body from the ship as she stood and made her way toward the young man who just wouldn't die. She knelt over him, as she slowly unsheathed the knife she carried at her side.

His breathing was shallow and raspy, and she could see blood bubbles form at his nose and mouth. The last stab by her husband must have punctured one of the human's lungs. She slowly turned him to lie on his back, the gurgling sound of his breathing became worse as she looked him over. She watched as his eyes fluttered open for a moment, close then open again as she stared down at him.

"You may have killed my husband human," she said. "But I will own your soul."

She then brought her knife down and stabbed him through is chest.

[tbc]


	12. Chapter 12

Hearts of Courage  
Arus  
arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com

Relative disclaimers apply.

* * *

Chapter 12

* * *

Dr. Gorma picked up a clipboard as he walked into the research area of infirmary he had managed since he could remember. He looked up, surprised to see the youngest member of the original Voltron Force, hunched over a microscope as he looked from the slide he was studying, then to a data pad nearby as he jotted down his notes.

"Lieutenant, rare to see you here at this hour of the night," Dr. Gorma stated as he approached the young man. "What do you have there?"

Pidge looked up and lifted up his glasses to rub his eyes for moment before answering the doctor. "I had the nurse collect skin samples from Madison when she was in here earlier," he said. "Finally got some time to actually study them."

"Skin cells?" the doctor asked. "From whom?"

"General Tarris," Pidge answered as he looked through the microscope again. "When he had Madison his in hold, she managed to scratch his arm, thereby getting a sample under her nails. I've been trying to see what information they will provide."

"May I take a look?"

Pidge nodded as he pushed the microscope to the doctor and had the older man look through to the sample he had on the slide.

"Strange," the doctor commented. "And you all state that this General Tarris is a human?"

"Human yes," Pidge said as he studied the doctor's reactions. "Haven't determined exactly what humanoid species though."

"Why couldn't you determine it?" Gorma asked as he looked up from the microscope and picked up Pidge's data pad. "He's terran. Earth origin. It's not strange for the Drule Empire to have recruited those from Earth."

Pidge looked at the doctor. "That's what I thought as well," Pidge said. "But then, I noticed something odd with this sample."

Pidge quickly slipped a slide into a bigger microscope on that was on his side, and had the computer show the results on the data pad he held in his hand.

"These cells are from the same sample set," Pidge stated.

Gorma looked at the display before him, seeing an odd mutation happening with some of the cells present.

"The same sample?" Dr. Gorma asked. "Are you sure these weren't cross contaminated with a Drule sample?"

"Drule?" Pidge asked.

Dr. Gorma nodded as he turned in his seat and stood up to open a small refrigeration unit on a shelf. He opened a small box and pulled out another microscope slide and placed it under the first microscope that they were using.

"These were collected during the last attack from a soldier who defected to the Alliance," Dr. Gorma stated. "Take a look."

Pidge pulled the microscopes closer to him and then looked through it, adjusting the lens as he studied the cells on the slide. He noticed the similarities between what he was seeing and that of the cells that were displayed on his data pad.

"They are similar, but did you notice the mitochondria strands within these cells?"

Gorma looked at the data pad again, taking note that the skin cells nucleus were little larger than the normal cells from a true Drule humanoid.

"Wait a minute."

Pidge watched as the doctor pulled another slide from the same box before and slipped it under the microscope.

"Take a look at this one."

Pidge nodded and took a look at the new sample. He saw the similarities as to the cells collected from General Tarris.

"Where did these come from?"

Dr. Gorma looked to him. "Prince Lotor," he stated.

Pidge slowly nodded in understanding as he looked to his data pad. "The mitochondria strands make sense now," he said. "But why would General Tarris have both normal humanoid skin cells and some Drule mutated skin cells?"

"That I can't answer," Dr. Gorma stated. "Genetically, that would be impossible."

"Do you think we have enough to run a DNA test on these cells and compare to a known sample?"

"We can run a simple PCR test, if you have a sample to compare," Dr. Gorma stated. "Have a profile ready?"

Pidge nodded as he handed the doctor his data pad. "I have a profile that we came upon when we were ransacking the General's ship."

Dr. Gorma nodded. "Do you know the name of the individual?"

Pidge nodded slowly. "Keitaro Takashi."

* * *

Ilandra slowly made her way down the long corridor of the Castle of Doom, having attended three meeting with Tarris and Lotor before being excused for a break only to return later to the arena so King Zarkon could entertain them with a fight from the arena.

She was beginning to tire of Doom, wishing to be back on Coeus instead, where there was no Galaxy Alliance or even Voltron to think of. Something strange was happening here, and the longer they stayed on this forsaken planet, the growing sense of dread dug deeper into her soul.

She made her way back to the stateroom, hoping to catch up on some rest that she missed out on from the night before. The nightmare of those days so long ago. continued to plague her, and she could not find rest, even after returning to the comfort of her bed and lover.

She removed the shawl she wore and slipped onto the bed, the cool satin sheets felt like ice against her skin. She closed her eyes and hoped that her dreams would be peaceful.

* * *

**15 years ago...**

Ilandra breathed in deeply as she raced the Drule transport ship across space, heading toward the planet she called home. Coeus, unlike many of the Drule home worlds, was one of remarkable beauty on one side of the planet, and of fiery wastelands on the other. It was at the outskirts of the main capitol, that she had her own Research center, for which she trained years to harness the dark magic she had learned from her master.

And it was this dark magic that she would now call upon, to try and save the life of the one she loved.

"Place him on the table there," Ilandra stated as she entered her laboratory, followed by Lanys, who carried Tarris in his arms. Behind him another soldier carried the incapacitated human.

"Place the human in the room there," she pointed to the soldier.

Ilandra then walked over to the table on which her husband laid, still lifeless, eyes wide open in surprise, at the moment of his death.

"My lady, how do you propose...?"

"Take your men and leave, Lanys," she said as she looked to him. "You do not want to know what will happen."

"My lady?"

"Lanys, please...I will bring him back," she said. "I need the human's soul to do so, and I'll be conducting a ritual that will rip that from him."

"You can do that, with your magic?"

"Its an old and very dark magic, one that I will have to call upon my master for help," she stated. "It would be best if you're not here when he arrives."

Lanys nodded as he signaled to the rest of his men. "How long?"

"Hours...days if need be," she said as she walked around him. "I am not to be disturbed until I return to the main capitol. See to it that no one knows that we are here."

"I understand my lady," Lanys stated.

"Have faith, old friend," she said. "Tarris will return to us."

* * *

Alania paced the small room, tired of doing nothing; angered by the fact that she was forced to be here. It had been 3 days since she was forcefully taken from Arus, and 2 days since Tarris had visited her. She would have been happy if he just turned her over to Zarkon and made her join the slaves, at least she would be doing something.

Just as she walked toward the only window in the room, the door suddenly opened and several of Doom's slave girls walked in, carrying various sorts of silk gowns. robes and what looked to be like a bathing supplies..

"My lady, we have been instructed to escort you to the baths so that you may refresh yourself," one of the slave girls stated as she approached her.

"And where am I to go after that?" Alania inquired.

"You are to accompany the General to an arena match schedule by the great King Zarkon," she said. "He wanted you to be presentable to meet the King."

Alania crossed her arms. "You can tell the General that I am declining his offer," she stated. "I rather be dead than to be in the presence of that sick twisted..."

"My lady, it would be wise to keep such thoughts...to yourself," the woman stepped forward again. "And to refuse an audience before the King, means torture and death, at the hands of Zarkon's beastmen."

Alania looked at the young woman before her, and letting out a sigh, she slowly nodded. "Will I ever be able to leave this planet if I comply?"

The woman slowly shook her head. "Once you have been presented to the great King, he will determine your fate," she said.

Feeling that one instant of hope suddenly shatter before her, Alania shoulder's slumped. "Where are these baths?"

"Down the hallway, my lady," she said.

"And please do not call me 'my lady,'" Alania stated. "I'm just a mere maid who works in a Castle."

The woman nodded. "We've been instructed to honor you as such, my lady," she said.

"By who?"

"The General, my lady," she stated.

* * *

**15 years ago ...**

Ilandra stared into the tank before her, as her subject floated in the greenish water, imbued with dark magic to work on the wounds of the physical body. She studied the human male before her, placing her hand against the glass window of the tank as she watched tendrils of small electrical webs, attach themselves at areas he was injured.

It had taken several days to get to this point, it would take several more to see if her efforts would work.

"Our next step is the fusion."

Ilandra turned to the only other presence in this room. A tall man, slender yet he didn't seem weak stood behind her. He was pale with bones showing through the skin that seemed to have been stretched over his diamond shaped face. Piercing almond colored eyes stared back at her.

"Tell me, Owellis, tell me that this will work."

"It will work, my dear," he stated as he joined her at the edge of the tank. "But this is very old magic. For what you ask, hasn't been done in several millennia."

"I can't let him go."

"And you won't my dear," he stated. "The fusion will combine them, physically as well as spiritually. This is the only way to save what is left of the man you love."

"How much of Tarris will be there? Will he remember?"

"That is a chance we have to take with such dark magic, my dear," he stated. "If your husband's soul is much stronger, it will be his thoughts...his personality that will come through."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then you will have a fun plaything to torture for taking your love away."

"Then we have to do it," she said.

"The human is much stronger physically, so the fusion will take his form over," Owellis stated as he turned away from her. "I would say your good-byes now, for there will not be much left of what your husband was like."

"I don't care," Ilandra stated. "Just make it work."

Owellis smiled. "Ilandra, you will pay with your own soul for this should it be successful," he warned. "One cannot play a god, and expect to get away with it."

"If it brings him back to me, I'll gladly spend my eternity in whatever hell I'm destined for," she stated. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

Pidge woke when he heard the steady beep from the computer he was sitting next to. He removed his glasses he wore, and rubbed his eyes to clear them, when he saw that the computer had finished its analysis, and was signaling to publish its report.

"Is it done?"

Pidge looked up as Dr. Gorma entered the room, and slowly nodded. "It's going through the last of the test."

Dr. Gorma nodded as he walked over and grabbed Pidge's data pad. Brining up the sample test that was performed, he scrolled through the various markers highlighted by the test, his features changing as he counted the markers.

"What is it doctor?"

"Very odd indeed," he said. He placed the data pad down as the computer finished its analysis and published its report.

"We have a match," he stated. "The DNA from your skin cells match to your profile."

"I sense, a 'but', coming," Pidge stated.

Dr. Gorma slowly nodded. "Human...Terran specifically DNA has 23 chromosomes pairs. Drule DNA has 24 chromosomes pairs, and unlike Human DNA, where one chromosome pair determines sex, in a Drule DNA, its 2 chromosome pairs.

"Your sample has 24 chromosome pairs."

Pidge looked at him in confusion. "Wait...if the DNA test matches to my profile, how can there be 2 foreign chromosome pairs in the sample?"

Dr. Gorma took a seat across from the young man. "Even in Lotor's DNA, we do not even see this kind of ... mutation, and it is a mutation here," he said. "When there is a blended child between species, we will see that blend within the DNA of the offspring. This is the work of something that is beyond science...beyond anything that I've seen."

"What would be the sense of ..."

Dr. Gorma looked at him as the young man paused in his thoughts. "What is it?"

"Could...magic...dark magic be responsible for this mutation?"

"Anything is possible, if we are talking of the kind of magic that we've seen that witch Haggar do," he stated. "Taking animal and beasts and turning them into the giant monsters you've encountered. But why would this be done on an adult male, with a Drule?"

"I have a hunch as to what did happen," Pidge stated, "But I'll have to delve into the logs of the ship that we ransacked."

"A hunch?"

"That General Tarris, was...is indeed a Drule Soldier, and that his legendary status is well and true," Pidge stated. "And that something happened...it must have been a major incident, where this Tarris, the Drule Tarris, was involved in an incident that Keitaro Takashi was in."

The Doctor slowly nodded. "You do know of what happened to the Commander's family when he was young?"

The young man slowly nodded. "He told us all when we went to the Academy together," he said. "Said that he didn't want us to think that he didn't deserve to be there, because of who his family was." Pidge slowly thought to himself. "Do you think that the Drule force that attacked the emissary ship to Planet Ebb was actually this Tarris' force?"

"Anything is possible," Dr. Gorma said in a sigh. "And something happened. Something that is beyond even science and medicine that can be explained." The Doctor then stood, collecting the sample slides, placing them in a small container, and quickly wrote a label for them. "And whatever it was, the man that you've encountered, is Admiral Keitaro Takashi...or at least, its his physical form of the Admiral."

Pidge slowly nodded. "Doctor..."

"My report will only go to Admiral Benson," Gorma stated. "Until I have this General here in this infirmary to confirm our suspicions, we are only relying on speculation here. And right now, the last thing I need is to have this hanging over the head of Commander Takashi."

"He will have to be told, doctor," Pidge stated.

"In due time," he said. "Pidge, I ask that you do not speak of this as well."

"I understand."

* * *

Alania breathed in deeply as the women slaves dressed and pampered her. It almost seemed to be a ritual for them, having done this type of thing in the past.

The bath was luxurious, she had to admit. The water, if it could be called that, was heated to the perfect temperature, and laced with various perfumes and soaps. The women bathed her, and when she started to protest, they shooed away her hands so they could tend to her. Two women washed and treated her hair, combing their fingers through her long locks, getting any tangles out. Another tended to cleaning and trimming the nails on her fingers and toes, while one tended to the removal of her body hair. She never felt more embarrassed, yet so looked after in her entire life.

Now she sat in front of a long mirror, as they began their job of a beautifying her up. Her hair was set with long waves, and an oil was brushed through it, to keep the waves as well as add some shine. The woman who had greeted her in the room, sat before her with a tray of various colors of paint and several brushes, started to apply many of the colors to her eyelids, cheeks and lips.

"The General will be very pleased to see you this beautiful, my lady," she commented as she turned to dip her brush in what looked to be black ink.

"Tell me, why am I being treated this way?" she asked as the woman instructed her to close her eyes, and then apply the black ink. "Is it common for ordinary girls to be treated like they are almost royalty."

The woman before her had stopped what she was doing, causing Alania to slowly open her eyes. "You should be honored, my lady," she said as she dipped her brush again in the black ink. "To receive such comforts and attention, from anyone that is high ranked in the Drule Empire means that you are worthy of it."

"But he is not a Drule," Alania stated.

"Yes he is not," she said as she instructed her to close her eyes again. "I did say anyone that is high rank, my lady. A well respected General in all aspects, is as high as you can get in the Drule Supremacy without being of royal blood."

"Why me?"

Alania felt the woman lift her chin causing her to open her eyes again. "Do you not see, my lady?" she asked. "He is seeking to have you has his intended."

"Intended?"

The woman smiled. "What you would call marriage."

Alania slowly shirked away from the woman, slowly standing as she moved. "Marriage?" she asked. "Marriage?"

"Is there something wrong with marriage, my lady?" the woman asked.

"Yes there is something wrong," Alania nearly yelled. "For one, I am here against my will, all because of him, and second, I do not love him. I do not even know him. And from what I've seen, I could care less to get to know him. He hurt my friends, kidnapped me, and he expects me to simply accept this?"

"I'm sorry to have upset you, my lady," she said. "I was not aware that you did not understand our customs." The woman then stood, and approached her slowly. "It is our custom, that any Drule male who is interested in a woman, asks for permission from those higher than him, to be his intended.

"Drule families present their daughters, when they are of age, to willing men, in hopes of being able to join with a household that is of a higher status than their own," she continued. "In this case, the General is seeking approval from the King himself, since it is the King who is higher than the General."

Alania felt her legs weaken, and she fell to her knees as the dress she wore, pooled around her. Tears threatened to spill from the edge of her eyes. "And these women, do they ever have a choice?"

"Only those who have proven themselves warriors, or are of royal blood," she explained. "If you are a soldier or a warrior, then you would have your choice in available Drule males."

"How can such a system work?" Alania asked. "Forcing women to marry those they do not love?"

"They learn to love, my lady," she said. "And so will you."

Alania looked up as the woman stood before her, stretching her arms to help her stand again. As she moved away, it was the first time that Alania got to see herself fully in the tall mirror she was sitting at earlier. The woman smiled and slowly pulled her toward the mirror, to stand within its view. Never had she ever seen herself like this, in all her life. She didn't recognize the person staring back at her.

"You are truly beautiful," she said. "For a human. I'm sure you'll even impress the great King."

* * *

"We'll attack from this point," Tarris stated as he looked over the virtual map of Planet Arus' terrain. "Their forces are thin at this moment, and we must take advantage before they call in the help of the other Voltron Force."

King Zarkon stood on the opposite side of the virtual map as Haggar came to stand between them. "We have seen them use that weapon you spoke of, General," Haggar stated. "Do you think that they will use it again?"

"I do not doubt it," he said. "We'll need to them to keep on using it. They are still unfamiliar with what it can do, and from the last battle, we detected a power drain within their defender that nearly incapacitated them fully. I believe that if they continue to use this weapon, whatever it is, it'll weaken Voltron to the point that their systems will not be able to recover from such a strain on their systems.

"I do not doubt that they are aware of this as well," Tarris said as he rounded the map and met King Zarkon's gaze. "If we keep up our attacks, it'll delay them in finding a solution. I hope to have by that time, to have gotten the weapon in hand."

"Do you know what it looks like?"

"I have an idea of what it is now," Tarris stated. "One that I know that I've overlooked over the years, because of young prince upstart. In his escape to Arus, he did not realize that my ship automatically scans any foreign person who occupies the pilot's seat." He handed Haggar a small disc. "I'm sure you'll be able to see what I missed."

Haggar nodded and placed the disc in a computer near her. The of Arus changed before them to a full body scan of a human.

"Prince Jeryn lost his arm years ago, in a failed attempt to escape from Coeus with some of then living survivors of Arcona," Tarris stated. "A doctor on Coeus decided to experiment on him to see if he could combine cybernetics with living flesh. The experiment was successful."

Zarkon watched as the display showed a scan of a human, then focused on the left arm of the scan.

"There," Tarris said. "He hid the weapon in his arm."

"In his arm?" Zarkon asked. "How can a weapon be that powerful, but small enough to fit in a person's arm?"

"A physical weapon is may not be," Haggar stated as she waved her staff and the scan manipulated before them. "It could be simply a device that would augment the power of any machine it's placed into."

"Augment?" Zarkon asked as he turned to the witch. "If we are to obtain this weapon, would you be able to use it against the Voltron Force?"

"If it can augment the strength and power of Voltron, we could use it to our advantage," Haggar stated. "I would like to see this weapon in action in person, General."

Tarris nodded. "I plan to send my forces to Arus, within the hour," he stated. "If you would like to contribute to the attack..."

"I'll have a robeast prepared for your departure within the hour," she stated. "Any specific requests to help you with your attack?"

Tarris stared at her for a moment. "In fact, I do have some requests, and I believe you'll find them most interesting."

* * *

"Come on, 10 more reps, and we can take a rest," Lance stated as he stood over the bench press on which his long time friend laid on.

Keith let out a grunt as he grabbed hold of the barbell above him, weighted with 10 lbs discs on each side. Lance had started their workout early, as promised, and they were into their 3rd hour. Following the schedule as outlined by Dr. Gorma, this hour would be spent to help build the muscle that Keith had lost during the surgery.

"Just remember, once you're all better, you have a General to kick his ass all over this system and back." Lance said as he watched Keith go through the reps.

"I'm not about revenge, Lance," Keith said through his deep breaths. "I'm just worried that if he attacks us now, we will not be prepared for whatever he decides to send against us."

Lance slowly nodded as Keith did his last rep and helped him place the barbell on the stand. Keith breathed in deeply before slowly sitting up, grabbing the towel that was nearby. Lance then sat on one of bench presses nearby and handed him a bottle of water. "We'll be ready for whatever he throws at us," Lance said. "We have a good crew."

"One that hasn't worked together fully yet," Keith stated. "How is Dylan?"

"Still out cold, at least when I checked on him this morning," Lance said. "Dr. Gorma says that he should wake on his own, as to when, he doesn't know."

Keith nodded then took a drink from the bottle he held. "You have that schedule for the new cadets?"

"Hey, Dr. Gorma said for you to keep focus on your own training," Lance said as he stood. "You leave the cadets to us. Hunk is running them through the simulations right now. He'll be here at the end of the hour for his session with you, and if I were you, I'd worry about the conditioning he'll put you through."

Keith smiled to himself. "6 weeks of this huh?"

Lance smiled. "Glad that you see the humor in this," Lance said. "Because by the end of today, you're going to be eating that smile."

"Not if I piss you off first," Keith said.

* * *

King Zarkon looked over the plans that Tarris provided as Haggar was more than happy to incorporate the General's suggestions into the large robeast she had planned to send with his forces. The General was going over last minute items for the witch when a guard entered the room with two young women trailing behind them.

"Sire, we have a guest," the guard announced.

Tarris looked up as the guard parted away as a slave girl brought forward the maid he had taken from Arus. Excusing himself from the witch he walked over to King Zarkon to meet the women.

"Sire, this is that maid from Arus," Tarris announced. "Alania."

Alania could only look around the room she was in, it was dark, but lined with several computers along the walls. She then met the gaze of King Zarkon, before the woman who brought her, forced her to kneel before the Drule King.

"The maid you spoke of?" Zarkon asked as he turned to Tarris. "Stand."

Alania slowly got to her feet, afraid to lift her head to meet his gaze. She then gasped as the king reached out to her, grabbing her by her neck as he forced her to lift her head to meet his gaze. His large hand nearly cover the entirety of her head and she grabbed hold of his wrist as she tried to wrench her head free of his grasp.

"The General tells me that you have been training to fight, to protect that pathetic princess my son fawns over."

Alania could only nod as he squeezed her neck. "I have been training with the Voltron Force since your son's first attack on the Princess nearly a year ago," she said as she tried to breathe. "There are a few of us tasked with the protection of the Princess."

"Odd that she would chose women to protect her," The king stated and then let her go.

Alania was forced back, placing a hand to her neck as she breathed in deeply. "The perfect protection is of those that one would not expect," she said. "There are many of us who have been tasked with her protection."

Zarkon turned to Tarris. "Train her," he commanded. "If she wishes to be a fighter, then train her."

"How long?"

"One month, General," he said as he turned to her. "If in that time she isn't trained, I will happily send her into the Pit. We'll see just how good of a fighter she really is."

"I understand," Tarris stated.

"Keep me updated on your plans, General," Zarkon stated. "Haggar, I wish to results from this attack."

"As you wish, sire."

Alania watched as King Zarkon walked passed her without even a look in her direction. The woman that was with her had bowed slightly upon his departure, then stood as Tarris stood before her.

"Mira, please return Alania to my chambers, and see that she has appropriate clothes made for her training."

"Yes, General." the woman stated.

"Training?" Alania asked as she stepped forward. "What do you mean training?"

The General turned to her and smiled. "The only reason you are alive now, my dear is that I've told Zarkon that you knew how to fight and defend yourself," he said as he walked over to her. "If he didn't agree to my stipulations, you'd have joined the rest of his slaves, or even as fodder for the robeast fights that are held."

"So, you are going to train me, to fight?"

"I have one month to fix your short comings," he said as he studied her. "You have the basics down, but your form and style needs work. You do not have the endurance to last in a real fight, and if you think that what you can do, can protect your princess, you have much to learn."

Alania's hand came up quickly but he caught her arm before she could slap him. "And, you need to work on how not to telegraph your moves," he said as he released her arm. "I'll teach you to think at least 10 moves ahead of your opponent, and to expect his next move."

"If you haven't noticed, I'm just a maid," she said. "What good will it do if you train me, and I'm stuck here on this planet? I can no longer protect Princess Allura if I'm here on Doom."

Tarris smiled. "It isn't Princess Allura that you will be protecting any more, dear," he said. "You'll train to serve under me."

"And what makes you think that I'll agree to serve you?"

"Its either to serve me, or be a slave," he said. "And I'll warn you now, the Slave pits here on Doom are none to luxurious. Murderers, rapists, beings from all planets far and wide, with their own baggage. What do you think they'll do to a helpless maid down there?"

Alania could only turn away from him. "I really don't have a choice do I?"

"Oh you do have a choice," he said. "I'm just offering you the better choice."

Alania closed her eyes, clenching her fists together at her side. "Then I must do as the King demands," she said as she turned to face him. "But know this, when this is all over, I'll be sure to be the one that is holding the knife that kills you."

"We can all dream, my dear," he said. He then turned to the other woman. "Mira, please escort Alania back to my chambers. I'll be there after our attack on Arus."

The woman nodded and took Alania by her arm, before leading her out of the room.

"If you would like General, I can make her...more agreeable to your requests," Haggar had stated as she approached him. She then turned to him. "If you are to make her your protector, then what of Illandra?"

"I've made it clear to you, Haggar, that my trust in Illandra has faded," he said without turning to her. "I'm in need of a new protector."

"And what of Illandra?"

Tarris turned to her with a smile. "I'm sure you are wanting to have your peace with her, witch," he stated. "Its no secret that you and she are at odds with each other."

Haggar smiled under the hooded robe she wore. "Then I have your permission to deal with her in my own ways?"

"Do as you please, witch," he said as he turned from her. "She has been hiding secrets from me for far too long. My own life before, gone, all because of her. And I don't like to be in the dark about anything."

"I understand General," Haggar stated. "For now, the robeast will be ready. I shall meet you within the hour in our transport bay."

"Study the battle well, Haggar," he said as he started to leave the room. "If we are able to obtain that weapon, imagine the possibilities of the type of robeasts you could develop and finally be rid of that upstart band of do-gooders."

"Whiddle them down slowly, General, and all they will have left is just a dream."

[tbc]


	13. Chapter 13

Hearts of Courage  
Arus  
arus(dot)geo(at)yahoo(dot)com

Relative disclaimers apply.

Wow, it's been nearly a year since I updated this story. Apologize for the long delay. Real life got in the way, and over the past year I've had several events happened that had me busy. Due to a recent death in the family, I took solace in reading some Voltron fanfic to re-inspire me and to help me through this difficult time. I hope you like this update.

* * *

Chapter 13

* * *

"No, if we bypass this system here, and hardwire it into this area here, we should be able to get the power output that the device offers without it straining our systems," Eysia offered as he placed the schematics down on the table before him. "Here, see."

Hunk and Pidge looked over the blueprints that he drew up, as Reiji jumped down from atop of Red Lion. "Eysia, I don't think that hardwiring it will do the systems any good," the young member said as he walked toward them. "What if instead of hardwiring, we take what makes it work, and separate the components, so that once Voltron forms, the parts will work together?"

Eysia looked at Reiji and then to the two members standing beside them.

"As it is the device does drain most of Voltron's power," Pidge stated as he crossed his arms against his chest. "I think that the Lieutenant may be on to something."

"What is it?" Hunk asked.

"As the lions, each one has its own power source, and even then we lose our power gradually, unless we return them to their lairs to recharge," Pidge stated. "But once we form Voltron, our ships get recharged and Voltron uses our combined power to operate, but still we experience a slight power drain. We may be able to accomplish the same thing, if we break down the device to its important parts, and work it into the lions themselves. Once Voltron is combined, the device can be formed, and be able to work with our systems instead of draining Voltron completely. By only installing into Yellow Lion in our last battle, it was relying on the power of just the one lion. I believe that having the reliance equally shared amongst all the lions will decrease its effect on our systems, but still be able to enhance the power we need."

Reiji looked over at the Green Lion Pilot and nodded in agreement. "If Prince Jeryn's schematics for his device is correct, then we should be able to get an understanding of how it works," he added. "We'll need to see how it works, and then determine what needs to be combined in order to provide Voltron with the power boost needed."

"I believe I have an idea on how we can go about this little project," Hunk said as he turned to walk over to a shelf. He then looked through a pile of old blue prints and schematics, before pulling out a long sheet of printed paper. "As we know, when we form Voltron, the power source in each lion is shielded and the flow of energy is then directed into the transformation sequence. When Voltron is formed, the power source in each lion is then shared along this one energy conduit here."

The four members looked over the blue print before them, illustrating the way that Voltron shared the power from the lions. Hunk breathed in deeply as he scrutinized the plans then looked around the bay as he contemplated Reiji's suggestion. His thoughts then brought his attention to the covered auto bike, that they had looted from General Tarris' ship. As he stared at it, he made his way to the small vehicle and looked it over.

"That's it!" he exclaimed as he turned to the 3 other members. A large smile was plastered across his face as he quickly made his way to one of the tables that contained an array of tools. "Oh hoho, boy this is just going to be a FUN project!"

"What is it Hunk?" Pidge asked as he watched his friend grab several tools off the table and make his way back to the auto bike.

"Remember what I said about these bikes, Pidge?" he asked. "They were state of the art. Engine nearly as quiet as can be."

Pidge slowly nodded trying to understand exactly what Hunk was getting at.

"Come on ol' buddy," he said. "The engine! It's the engine, man! To protect the rider from the output of power from this baby, they encased the engine so that the power was directed to the drive shaft. If they didn't, this thing would jockey off anyone who couldn't place their two feet on the ground firmly."

"If we see how the power is transfered to main parts of the bike," Reiji started. "we could build a type of adaptor, that could do the same when Voltron is formed."

"Now he gets it!" Hunk exclaimed.

"Hunk, you're a freaking genious," Pidge stated. "Now, all we need to do is get this thing started, bypass the security feature, dismantle it, and rip the engine out."

Eysia smiled as he rolled up the sleeves on his uniform. "Just tell me how to start that up, I can take care of the rest."

* * *

"Are you sure?" Jeryn asked as he stared at the Red Lion pilot.

Lance slowly nodded as he looked at Jeryn. "We're going to need all the help that we can get."

Jeryn slowly shook his head as he walked away from the young pilot. "It's my fault," he stated. "I shouldn't have come to Arus. I've put all of you in danger. I should have just stayed on Coeus."

"No."

Jeryn and Lance looked up to see Allura standing at the doorway of the small study, slowly making her way to where Jeryn stood. "Never say that. No one deserved what your people suffered through. The blame solely lies with this General Taris. Do not ever blame yourself."

Jeryn watched as she approached him, looking at the key to Blue Lion as Lance held it in his hands. She slowly took the key from Lance, slowly nodded her head to him. Lance smiled to her then bowed slightly.

"I have some work to do," he announced as he stepped away. "Your highness, princess."

Allura watched as Lance left the room, leaving her with Jeryn to speak to.

"Allura, I...I just can't."

Allura turned to the young prince and slowly shook her head. "Yes you can, Jeryn." she stated. She then took his hand and led him over to one of the many chairs in the room. "You just have to believe that you are." She added as they took a seat.

"What you have here..." Jeryn started to say. "What can I do? I've been living in hiding all of my life. I've lost everything. My people...I'm the last. And when I die, it'll be the end of my entire kingdom...my planet."

"Then don't let that happen." Allura said. "Become a pilot. Help us defend Arus...all the planets against General Taris. What do you think will happen if Taris wins? He will not stop."

Jeryn stared at her. "And what if I fail?"

"Failure is part of the learning process," she stated. "I didn't do well in the beginning, but I relied on my teammates to help me through. They will help you through it all."

"What if the lions do not accept me."

"They will," she stated. "Just be honest with who you are and believe in yourself, the lions will see what you truly are."

With some hesitation, Jeryn looked at the key that Allura held in her hands. He slowly reached for it, and with a smile, she placed the key into the palm of his hand and wrapped his fingers over it.

"Thank you, Allura," he said. "Just let me prove that my people didn't die in vain."

* * *

Alania cried out in pain as she was thrown against a wall, wrenching her right shoulder in the process. She fell to her knees as tears came to her eyes.

"Again."

"I can't you bastard," she yelled out, staring at him through her sweat soaked bangs. "I can't use my arm."

Taris let out a sigh as he slowly walked over to her. He then grabbed her by her arm and lifted her to her feet as she cried out in pain.

"You must learn to fight through the pain," he instructed her as he pushed her against the wall. "An enemy can render your arm useless. You must learn to fight without it."

Biting her lip, she watched and felt as he grabbed her arm and popped her dislocated shoulder back into place. She yelled out in pain, as she leaned against the wall, whimpering as the feeling slowly returned to her arm.

"You have a lot of work, my dear,"

Alania stared at him as he walked away from her. Every day for nearly two weeks, Taris had brought her to the practice arena, and each day, subjected her to grueling one on one fights and training. And each day, she would lose a bit of herself to the constant pain she lived with. Both mentally and physically, she was exhausted.

"If you're so disatisfied with my progress, then why don't you just kill me and find another bitch to train?"

Taris laughed to himself. "Oh, I'm not disatisfied, my dear, in fact I'm quite intrigued that you have progressed as far as you have."

"Funny," Alania stated as she pushed herself from the wall. "Getting my ass kicked to the ground everyday, doesn't feel llike any progress I'm familiar with."

"You doubt how much you have grown thus far?"

Alania stared at him. "The only thing that grows each day, General, is my hatred for you."

Taris smirked. "Then it's time that I show you that you possess what I recognized in you the first time I fought you."

Alania'e eyes then widened as she watched him rush toward her. Without thinking twice, she ducked away from his punch and immediately countered another hit that was aimed at her. Catching his fist in her hands, she quickly turned into his body, and with her leverage she flipped him over her, sending him toward the wall.

He was quick to recover however, as he used the momentum to quickly turn himself around to lunge at her again. She turned away out of his attack, blocking his outstretched arm, then catching him across his chest. She heard his grunt and turned quickly, to grab a hold of his shoulders, hooking her feet behind his legs, to send him straight to the ground. There she flipped over him, pinning his arms to the ground, and hooking her legs to render his own immobilized.

As Taris looked up at her, while she breathed hard over him, he began to laugh to himself. This caught her off guard, and he used that distraction to flip her over and he pinned her against the ground. She struggled under him, silently cursing him under her breath.

"When I first met you, you wouldn't have been able to do that, my dear," he said. "Now, you are ten times a better fighter than before."

Alania stopped her struggling as she stared up at him. It was then she saw something, that look he held in his eyes, that she hadn't seen since the first night she had fought him. It was fleeting, but she couldn't help all her animosity melting away at that point.

He pulled her up into a sitting position, keeping her legs pinned. "King Zarkon will be most pleased with your progress."

At the mention of the Drule King's name, Alania turned her head away from his gaze, anger returning to her features. "I'm sure you'll be espousing your great success as a teacher for the reason why I'm progressing," she stated. "Color me unintersted."

Alania then gasped, as he quickly pulled her to her feet, and he let out a laugh. "We will work on weapons training, starting tomorrow, my dear," he stated as he turned away from her. "We'll see what suits you best."

"Oh, I think a laser pistol would cause a quick enough death for you."

"And what happens when you don't have one in reach?" he asked as he turned to her. "You will learn how to use what is around you as your weapon."

Alania let out a gurnt as she watched him leave the practice arena. Soon, three Drule soldiers came up behind her, one shoving the butt of his rifle into her back. She turned to the soldiers and let out a sigh. "I know, I know." she said. She then followed them out of the arena.

* * *

Hagar stared into the viscous liquid that served as her crystal ball of sorts. She had spent nearly two weeks pondering one of the most difficult questions she had some across. A certain young witch and her current master was the source of those questions. But, slowly she was revealing what the answers to those questions would be.

Then, in that swirling mass of liquid and bubbles, Haggar gasped to herself when a vision appeared. She stepped back as the vision manifested itself over the cauldron she had stood over. And what she saw, terrified her.

"Illandra, what in the 7 hells have you done?"

* * *

Coran walked through the Castle of Lions, on one of his late night security checks. He always found some comfort in his late night strolls, and the quiet that the Castle had to offer.

Though, on this night, that quiet was dashed as he walked passed the exercise room. Curious, he stood in front of the sliding door, but had it open slightly. What he saw, surprised yet saddened him.

He watched as the young commander struggle on a treadmill, nearly limping his way on the moving platform. He had watched from afar, over the past few weeks, to see the young man struggle, yet over come some of the more difficult aspects of regaining what he had lost. He was glad that his teammates were there to help him through the physical training, however, he never got a sense of how the young commander was doing mentally.

In his musings, he nearly ran in when he saw Keith nearly trip, and quickly grabbing onto the side rails of the treadmill, but was halted in his action when he watched as Allura appeared, quickly pressing a button on the control panel of the excerise machine, to stop the platform from moving.

"Maybe we should try a lower speed and work our way up," she suggested in a lighthearted tone. "I don't think Lance will appreciate seeing any new bruises, when he wasn't the cause of them."

Keith let out a laugh as he pulled himself up, using the rails of the treadmill to help him stand. "And he's loving every minute of this," he said.

Allura smiled. "Well, at least you are able to do the 4 mile and hour speed," she said. "We can try it starting at 3 1/2 and work our way up to 5."

"As much as you are both dedicated to improving your endrance, commander, I have to remind that you it is a late hour."

Allura turned toward the door as Coran slowly entered and then quickly looked at the clock on the far side of the room. "Oh my," she stated. "I didn't realize how late it was."

Coran smiled. "Princess, go on ahead and retire for the night," he stated. "I'll see to it that the commander gets to his room."

Allura slowly nodded. "Thank you, Coran," she stated. She then turned to Keith. "We have several training sessions with the cadets tomorrow, so our session will be postponed. I hope this doesn't throw anything off for you."

"It's alright, princess. Hunk plans to grill me through some strength training tomorrow. I may be already to exhausted to even do any cardio."

Allura nodded. "Sleep well."

Coran watched as Allura left the small room, then truned to Keith as he helped him from the treadmill.

"Dr. Gorma says your progress is going well," the long time court advisor stated, as he took the commander by his arm and slowly led him out of the exercise room.

"He is probably exaggerating my progress," Keith commented. "But I do feel less fatigued than a few weeks ago."

"That's is good to hear," he stated. "I hope that everyone has been helping you through the process?"

"More than helpful," Keith stated. He then looked to the advisor, noticing a look of worry passing over the older man's face. "Coran, what's wrong?"

Coran looked to the commander as he stopped walking. "I guess I'm not used to hiding my worries from people anymore," he stated. "I know that since the accident, I haven't been able to speak with you on how you are doing."

Keith stared at the older man, suprised to see the concern that he held. "Coran, I'm doing fine."

The long time advisor stared at him. "Commander..." he stopped himself. "Keith, be honest with me. You can put up a front for your friends, but do not play any games with me. Or so be it, I'll have Benson ground you for the rest of your career."

Keith could only stare at him, but slowly smiled to himself. "We could never fool you, could we?"

"Not even the time, when Lance took Red Lion out for a joy ride, and nearly took out the South West tower."

"All this time?"

"Shall I run down my list of each of your and your teams' indiscretions?" Coran asked. "And don't let me start on the antics of one princess who should know better."

As they resumed walking, Coran just let the young man ponder over what he wanted to say to him. He was a patient man, and time was all he had.

"I'm scared."

Coran slowly nodded. "Understandable," he said. "Let's walk this way."

Keith didn't know where Coran was taking him, but he followed his course, as the older man led him down a couple of hallways, and soon they were in the North section of the Castle. The section where the royal family once lived.

"I rarely come here much, but it always comforts me," Coran stated as they came to stand before a large door. "I will find the answers here to questions that plague me."

"What kind of questions?"

Coran smiled to himself as he looked at the young man. "How to care for a teenage princess, who is as much her father was at her age."

Keith slowly nodded and watched as Coran opened the large doors and requested the lights to turn on. As Coran stepped into the room beyond, Keith was surpised to see that it was rather large study, with books that lined every single wall. As he walked passed one set of shelves, he recognized some of the titles that were there.

"Earth?"

Coran looked at him as he stood next to a rather large desk. "The King was very fond of the authors from your 17th and 18th century literature," Coran stated. "And some 20th century ones. He also believed that you could only enjoy a story, if you are able to physically read them in their bound volumes. He was never fond of any digital medium to enjoy your classics. Said that you couldn't connect with the author unless you felt the printed pages. Please, come and make yourself comfortable."

Keith turned to him and slowly made his way to the couch that fronted the large desk. He seated himself down on it as Coran sat across from him in a smaller chair.

"I'm only going to relate this once, and you will never hear this from me ever again," Coran started. "Not even the princess knows of what I'm about to say."

"What is it?"

Coran studied him, then leaned forward as he contemplated what he was about to relate.

"Alfor was an ambitious man, who grew up under that of an ambitious father," Coran started. "Every single thing that Alfor did was scrutinized and judge by then King Aidan, and for that, Alfor could never really connect with his father in away that he wanted. Being judged day in and day out for every decision you made, took a toll on him.

"That is, until we discovered the remnants of Voltron," he contiued. He leaned back in his chair then looked at the young commander. "It was at this time, and against his father's wishes, that Alfor decided to take the initiative to bring to life, this ancient defender that we only knew of in our legends."

"What happened?"

"Alfor did what any young hot headed and stubborn male did," Coran stated. "Do exactly the opposite of what any rational and sane person would do. He decided to reactivate Voltron, against the advice of the kingdom's scientists.

"Now remember, this was Voltron as a whole," Coran stated. "At the time, we didn't know that he was a being, made of 5 seperate entities. Little did we know that by activating him without the lions separate, would cause and overload.

"He caused the destruction of an entire docking bay, and injured three people in the process," he continued. "I was working in a nearby bay when it happened. I had rushed over as soon as we were alerted."

Coran then looked up at Keith seeing that he was interested. He was hoping that he could relate this story and instill some peace into the young commander.

* * *

"So I see."

Lotor stared at the image over Hagar's cauldron.

"Illandra's spell may be strong, but I have my ways to get around her block," the old witch stated. "This is dark magic, my prince. Even I would never dare to do as she has done."

"What does this mean for us, Hagar?"

"That if we can break Illandra's hold over the General, and gain control, then he can serve as our...puppet."

Lotor smiled. "The great General Taris, as our puppet."

Hagar nodded. "More than that, my prince," she stated. She then looked at the image that floated before her. An image that projected Keitaro Takashi and the original General Taris. "Oh, more than that."

[tbc]


End file.
